Boba Wick
by AshlaTi
Summary: An ex-bounty hunter comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, this story was an experiment following a conversation with a friend about whether of not the story of John Wick could exist in the Star Wars universe. It is set shortly before A New Hope. Let me know if its working with a review. Setting it for teen because of violence.**

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Coruscant-Level 4225 Coco Town- Two months before the Battle of Scarif

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He opened the door, retrieved the HoloNews flimsi, closed, and locked the door behind him, without giving the outside as much as a glance. He walked deep into the luxury apartment, to the kitchen where he unceremoniously tossed the flimsi onto the table, opened a cupboard, and measured out a couple of tablespoons of caf into an old percolator. As it began to bubble, he opened the fridge, studied its contents for a moment or two, and then closed it, abandoning the thought of breakfast.

He poured himself a cup of caf and sat at the table. The news flimsi was ignored. He drank in silence for a long, dark, brooding moment, the loneliness was almost unsettling.

Suddenly, the comlink on the wall rang. He lowered his cup and starred at the device.

A beat... and he stood and walked slowly to answer it.

"This is him." As he listened to the voice on the other end, he remained still... stoic.

"Alright." He hung up the comlink and returned to the table, sinking slowly down into his chair. A long beat... ...and he began to weep, his hands trembled as he lowered his face in excruciating, utter, and complete sorrow.

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Coruscant-Apartment's Landing Pad

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He had shaved and showered, and was wearing an old -but well-fitted Alderaan-cut, gray suit. She had always liked him in it.

He pushed open the garage blast door . . . to reveal a legend in dire need of a total overhaul: a gift from his father, a green and red, modified _Firespray-31_ -class patrol and attack craft.

A smile played at his lips as he walked into the garage, running a hand along the chassis. It was desperately in need of a wash and wax. Behind him, the wall was lined with tools: a mechanic's dream enclave.

He entered and closed the ramp behind him. He took a moment to breathe it in: he loved this ship... although he hadn't taken very good care of it as of late.

He took a moment to remember happier times and then he typed the key code into the ignition, twisted the starter switch, and the engine coughed to life as the exhausts belched black smoke.

The ship pulled out of the garage, stalled briefly, but came back to life, and then puttered towards the nearest airway.

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Coruscant- Galactic Empire Medical Facility

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A soft rain had begun to fall outside. He carried a humble bouquet of blueblossoms. He slowly made his way down the eerily empty corridor. He paused before a picture on the wall, glancing at his reflection upon the glass. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and entered a room.

He slowly approached the figure lying in bed. She was surrounded by machinery, accompanied by the soft sounds of technology. He removed the old, wilted blueblossoms from the vase, tossed them in the trash, and replaced them with the fresh bouquet.

He pulled over a chair, reached out, and took Sinta's hand. She was comatose, her breathing synthetic . . . so many machines... so many wires, tubes, and monitors. He held her hand for a long moment in heavy silence.

Behind him a surgicall droid entered the room and placed a robotic hand on his shoulder. He lowered his head, and nodded.

With a bit of effort, he stood and stared down at her for a long moment, never once releasing his grip. He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "It had to be you . . . be seein' ya."

He stared at her for one last moment and then nodded giving finality to the situation. The medical droid turned off the machine; the lights dimmed, the room settled into silence.

Sinta's body grew still. The droid left him to be alone with his wife. When the droid was gone he whispered to her. "Be seein' you."

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Imperial City Funeral Pyres-North West Hemisphere Annex

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He watched as her body was slowly consumed by the flames. The fire took a long time fighting against the cold rain that marked the day. Under dozens of black umbrellas were gathered other mourners. They were mostly Sinta's family and friends. A few wore armor despite being in the heart of the Empire.

Some of them tried to talk with him before the service about Sinta or to remember his father. He politely excused himself from conversation to grieve in his own way.

When the services finished those gathered there made their way to their individual landspeeders. He hadn't wanted a wake so they would not be going to his home afterwards.

A familiar figure waited for him besides his landspeeder. Rain dripped down off the edges of the Duro's over-sized brim on his hat. He recognized him and made straight for him.

"It's been a while." The Duro greeted him. "My condolences."

He didn't say anything so the Duro continued. "How you holding up?"

"I keep asking 'why her'?"

"There's no rhyme or reason to this life. Its days like today, scattered among the rest."

"Are you sure?"

The Duro stared at him sternly. "Don't blame yourself."

"What are you really doing here, Cad?" He asked.

Cad sighed, "Just checking up on an old friend." Cad Bane saw he wasn't going to get much more out of him. He extended his hand. "Good bye, Boba."

As Cad Bane walked away Boba Fett turned and took one last look at the smoking remains of his wife's pyre. What was he going to do without her?

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The Fett's apartment

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Boba pulled into the building . . . and sat behind the controls for a long moment, his eyes unblinking . . . so very alone.

Boba finally entered the home. He stood before the wall of holopics, statuesque as he studied them... unmoving . . . and then, he snapped; his hands gnarled into fists, he roared with rage as he punched the pictures, ripping them from the wall, tossing them aside, eventually collapsing into a heap, out of breath, his knuckles bled.

A long beat . . . and he chuckled softly, pulling himself to his feet.

Unlike the rest of the house, this space was pristine and organized: one half designated as an impressive wood shop, the other an office space with a recliner and teleview screener. Boba sat at his desk with a stylus in hand, a pad of paper before him, thinking.

He sighed with a smile, placing the stylus upon the pad before he slid them both aside. Boba unscrewed the cap off the bottle of Corellian brandy and poured himself a healthy dose. He opened his desk drawer, reached into the back, and found an old pack of cigarras, half-empty. He tapped one from the pack, placed it between his lips, and lit it, taking a deep pull. He held it, and exhaled, his body relaxing.

He finished his drink along with the cigarra, poured himself another . . .and then opened a bottle of pills (The label reading SINTA FETT and HYPNOCAINE SPICE), poured them into a small mound upon the desk.

He stared at them for a long moment . . . before he selected one, studied it, and sighed and . . . there was a loud knock on the door.

Boba froze, not sure as to how best to proceed.

Someone knocked a second time. Boba sighed, dropped the pill back onto the mound, and walked upstairs.

At the door a delivery woman waited for him. Boba opened the door.

"Boba Fett?" She asked.

"Yes?"

She handed him a clipboard and a stylus. "Sign here, please."

In a daze, Boba signed the clipboard and handed it back to her.

"And the stylus?" She asked.

"Oh. Sorry." Boba handed her the stylus.

"Here you go!" The delivery woman handed him a card and a plastoid case by the handle which he took without looking. "Have a good day."

Boba nodded, and, as she took off, headed back inside.

Boba closing the door behind him . . . and was startled by a small bark. He paused and he looked down to find that he was actually holding a small pet carrier. He lifted it to look inside: the face of a young, orange akk dog puppy looked out at him, her tail wagged fiercely. She barked again, and Boba lowered it, confused.

He sat down on the couch and set the carrier on the table in front of him. He held the envelope in his hands. Inside, the akk pup laid down with paws crossed, studying him, tilting her head from side to side.

Boba opened the letter. The card inside was simple; white with a single blueblossom drawn upon it. Boba smiled, instantly knowing who it is from. He ran a thumb along the face of the flower. He hesitated, but opened the card.

"Dear, Boba. If you have received this, then I have not survived the surgery." Boba paused for a second to let the pain pass, "I am so, so sorry." Tears begin to well in Boba's eyes. "But you've still got a life ahead of you, and I intend for you to live it. You may think you've hidden things from me, but you haven't. I know you. And should this reach you in time -which I pray it has- I beg you, I implore you, to stop. To think. To live. I love you, Boba. With all my heart. Our years were good. The best, in fact. But I'd rather see you later . . . than sooner . . . your best friend . . . Sinta."

Boba lowered the letter, wiped the tears from his cheeks, and stared at the puppy . . . chuckling.

"Well played, Sinta." Boba reached across, and flicked open the pet carrier. "Well played."

The akk puppy scrambled out of the cage and studied him; sniffing, licking, and barking.

"So... you gotta' name?" Boba checked the collar to find a Blueblossom medallion which reads, "Blossom." Boba grimaced, "Seriously?"

As if in reply, Blossom barked. '

"All right, then," Boba smiled. "Blossom, it is."

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The Fett's apartment- Next morning

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The alarm chime sounded, followed by silence when a heavy hand droped down upon the snooze control. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Silence. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Silence. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Boba sighed and pulled back the covers. Suddenly a wet nose was pressed against his face followed by a slobbery tongue.

"I'm up. I'm up." Boba sat up and kicked out his legs, sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. Boba glanced over at Blossom who laid on the bed, her paws crossed, head tilted, and tail excitedly wagging in notes of three.

They went down to the kitchen where Boba fried up a couple of pieces of bantha bacon and added them to his plate of scrambled eggs and toast. He found a bowl and poured some cereal inside for the puppy. "We'll grab you some kibble later."

As Boba took his seat at the table to enjoy his caf, breakfast, and HoloNews, Blossom devoured her meal.

After Boba had taken a sonic shower in the fresher he grabbed the Slave 1's starter key and headed out the door. Blossom followed at his heels and ran up the ramp of the ship before Boba could even board. Blossom took a spot next to Boba as he guided the ship out of the garage. The little akk dog eagerly took everything in as they headed into morning traffic.

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Fuel Depot 5-24, CoCoTown

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Boba leaned against the side of the Slave 1 as he pumped sublight fuel into her tanks. Blossom sat up at the cockpit and barked at a pair of swoop bikes the raced past the station.

He could hear the approaching air speeder before he could see it. A racing model of an Incom UT-60 landed at the fueling pad next to the Slave 1. Heavy Isotope music blared from the vehicle.

Two Nikto emerged from the U-wing. One of them ran inside the Fuel Depot's shop. The other one opened the rear hatch to the ship and let out the U-wing's other passenger. Boba noticed it was a young Hutt, probably only a century or two old. The Hutt yelled at the Nikto to buy him Ebla from the shop.

After a few moments the Hutt lit a long cigarra and slithered over to Boba. "Nice ride. _Firespray_. She a 33?"

"31." Boba responded curtly.

"Beautiful ship."

"Thanks." Boba said replacing the fuel cap.

"How much?" The Hutt asked as he slapped a beat with his slimy hands on the side of Slave 1.

"Excuse me?"

The Hutt removed his cigarra and pointed it in Boba's face. "How much for the ship?"

"She's not for sale." Boba said as he climbed up the ramp.

The Hutt smirked as he slid to the bottom of the ramp. Evidently the conversation wasn't over, Boba thought. The Hutt saw Blossom at Boba's feet. "Ah, I love dogs." With a shake of his head, the Hutt spoke in Huttese. "Everything's got a kriffing price, schutta."

Boba spoke back in perfect Huttese, "Not this schutta."

Taken aback by Boba's fluency, he watched as Boba closed the ramp, gunned the engine, and drove off.

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Boba headed to a nearby warehouse district where he was allowed entry by a bored air traffic guard. He wanted to show Blossom just what the Slave 1 was capable of.

He revved the engines and shot towards the gap between warehouses like a rocket. The Slave 1 took corners no air speeder should have any business taking. The inertia dampers strained to keep up with his maneuvers.

He raced towards one building and fishtailed the Slave 1 in a perfect 180 drift blowing the tiles off of a nearby roof. Blossom barked with glee which caused Boba to laugh for the very first time in a long time.

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The Fett's apartment-that night

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Boba settled into bed for the night. Blossom looked up at him with her big black eyes. She didn't whine. She didn't have to. "Come on, then."

Blossom jumped up. The leap to the top of the sleeper was almost the limit her little legs could carry her. She curled up in Sinta's empty spot and closed her eyes. Boba rubbed her head for a minute then reached over and turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

In the middle of the night Blossom barked suddenly and jumped from the bed. Boba stirred as he heard her run to the bedroom door.

"Do you need to go out?" Boba groaned as he rolled out of bed. Boba opened the door. Blossom barked, and sprinted off into the darkness.

Boba walked down the darkened stairs to the living room. He wasn't going to bother with the lamps at this time of night if the akk dog just needed to be let out onto the patio.

He suddenly froze at the bottom of the stairs at the sight of two masked men standing in living room. A half-second before someone else came up behind him and drove the butt of a blaster against the side of Boba's head.

He dropped to the floor, hard. Someone kicked him in the stomach. The blaster swung down again hitting him in the arm. A boot smashed into his face. Through the pain he tasted the blood filling his mouth.

Across the room, the silhouette of Blossom's body faced him, her breathing was labored.

A voice spoke in Huttese. "You find the ignition switch?"

One of the masked men walks past, "Yeah. He kept 'em in a bowl like my old man."

Someone was smashing the pics on the wall behind Boba. He could hear Blossom's whine.

"Someone shut the kriffing dog up."

One of the men walked over to Blossom and hit her hard with a club. She went silent and limp. Boba could only focus on her. He wanted to protect her but could barely move. He could feel his consciousness slipping away.

Boba looked up. The man who had been behind him slithered into view. It was the Hutt from the Fuel Depot. Somehow they had followed Boba home and waited for him to fall asleep.

The Hutt leaned down to where its slimy breath coated Boba's face. "Sleep tight, schutta."

He cocked his arm back and then punched Boba square in the face, knocking him out cold.

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Sometime later Boba stirred.

Before his eyes open he could sense something lying next to him. A small tail rose slowly, and landed with a soft "thump".

Boba stirred with a groan, and opened his eyes . . . and found Blossom's nose touching his cheek. He suddenly sat up, remembering. He touched Blossom's side, and she whimpered.

Boba recoiled . . . and saw the trail of blood from where she was first injured. She had pulled her broken body over to his side. Boba laid down beside Blossom, and softly . . . tenderly . . . cradled her head in his hand, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. Blossom relaxed, licked his thumb, and sighed one last time . . . and grew still.

Boba pulled himself up into a sitting position, cradled Blossom's still body . . . and began to cry . . . rocking back and forth.

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He searched a shelf in the garage and found a large box which he unfolded. He placed Blossom's body within. Boba reached down to retrieve Blossom's stuffed animal from the floor. He had bought it for her yesterday. He placed it down beside her.

With a tender -careful- touch, Boba removed Blossom's collar, placed it, almost with reverence, upon a nail in the wall. Boba stared down at his dog for a long moment . . . before he closed the box.

He went to the patio where he had a small tree in a large pot. He dug a small grave, placed the box, stared at it for a long moment . . . and then filled the hole.

On his hands and knees, Boba scrubbed the blood from the floor. Memories of the night before interplayed with Sinta's disease. Blossom was the last piece of Sinta he had and they took it from him.

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Dengar's Chop Shop, The Works, Coruscant

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Slave 1 raced into the driveway of the hidden garage. And stopped before a concealed entrance. The Hutt was driving and flashed an obscene gesture at the security cams, challenging anyone to deny him entry. The secret blast door opened and the Slave 1 drifted inside.

The facility was populated by dozens of hardened criminals, but had become the only family anyone there knew. This was a tight knit, loyal, and talented crew. A number of land and air speeders were being repaired, dismantled, painted, and the like: a non-stop flurry of activity.

Walking the floor, Dengar, the father figure of this little family, bantered with his crew before he paused to help lower a new engine into a landspeeder. An old _Firespray_ , a memory from years ago, entered the chop shop.

The Hutt pulled into an empty space in the middle of the garage's floor. A pair of older mechanics noticed the ship. They shared an emotionless, yet knowing, look, set down their tools, and calmly left the building.

The Hutt and his two Nikto thugs poured out of the vehicle, laughing.

The Hutt spoke in Huttese as he yelled to the nearest mechanic "Echuta, dude! I'm gonna' keep this fierfeker!" he switched back to basic "Hey, where's Dengar at?"

Dengar walked towards the Hutt who spotted him approaching, his gaze locked onto the Slave 1. He recognized it.

"Yo, Dengar. I want some new BOSS numbers and some new papers." The Hutt laughed and pointed at his new ship.

"Where'd you get that ship?" Dengar placed his hands on his hips. The Hutt was taken aback by Dengar questioning him. "I asked you where the hell did you get it?"

"Who gives a shavit?" The Hutt shrugged.

Dengar waved a dismissive hand to the Hutt. "Alright get it out of my shop. Get it out right now." He then walked away turning his back to a ship he had never wanted to see again.

The Hutt slid forward. "Did you lose your poodoo, Dengar? Cause we own you."

Dengar stopped in his tracks and turned back to face the punk Hutt. "What did you say? What did you say to me?"

"We own you."

Dengar glared. "You don't own me, punk. I work for your father. All right?" The Hutt didn't know what to say so Dengar continued. "The owner of that ship. Did you kill him or what?"

"No. But I sure as hell fierfeked up his dog." The Hutt laughed.

Dengar smiled. "You fierfeked up his dog? That's what you did? All of you?" Dengar shook his head and chuckled. "That's crazy shavit, man."

Dengar's eyes grow wide . . . knowing. Surprising even himself, Dengar reared back and delivered a powerful blow to the center of the Hutt's face, shattering the small bone in his nose.

Stunned, the Hutt reeled and dropped backwards, cradling his face, blood seeped between his fingers. In a knee jerk reaction, one of the Nikto pulled his blaster and held in in Dengar's face.

The atmosphere immediately went tense, the air still, as, throughout the building, Dengar's mechanics each reached for a hidden weapon: vibroknives, machetes, blasters, and the like. Dengar glared, unblinking, at the Nikto as he walked towards him.

"Oh, look at you, that's wizard." Dengar said, "You pull a blaster? On me? In my house?"

Dengar pressed his forehead against the Nikto's outstretched blaster pistol. "Now, either you kill me right now . . . or you get the fierfek out of my shop."

Silence . . . as the other Nikto lowered his comrade's arm. The second Nikto faced Dengar. "Sutha ain't gonna' like this."

"How you know what Sutha likes and doesn't like?" Dengar replied. "I'll tell you something. He's going to understand."

The two Nikto helped to upright the young Hutt. The Hutt brushed them off. "You got a pair on you, scum!" But Dengar had already turned and was walking away. The Hutt called after him. "I guess we will be taking our business somewhere else."

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Outside Dengar's shop- several hours later

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The hover bus pulled away from the curb. Boba waited for it to pass and then crossed the street, making a b-line for Dengar's automotive.

He entered the building which was silent: everyone was gone. Boba carefully made his way through the floor, rounding a shelving array to find Dengar, a cigarra dangling from between his lips. His old friend was sitting on a folding chair at the front of a sports landspeeder. Dengar had his hands folded in front of him, a bottle of Old Janx Spirit and two glasses rested on the hood of the landspeeder.

"Hello, Boba."

"Is it here?" Silence. Dengar flipped over the glasses and poured two drinks.

Dengar took one of the drinks and looked down into the liquor. "It was." He said and then downed his drink in a single swallow. "Voras the Hutt nicked it."

"Sutha's son?"

Denger nodded that it was so. Sutha the Hutt ran Coruscant for the Hutt Council on Nal Hutta. His brother was none other than Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Dengar sighed, never taking his eyes off of his drink, "Yeah."

After another moment of silence Dengar asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I need a ride."

Two minutes later the landspeeder roadster charged out of Dengar's chop shop. Boba was at the controls.

Dengar watched him go. He sighed and poured himself another drink. A comlink was ringing from the back of the shop. Dengar took his time getting to it. Not many beings would be calling at this hour unless it was bad. Dengar knew it was going to be bad.

"Dengar speaking."

"I heard you struck my son." The voice of Sutha the Hutt came from the other side of the connection.

"Yes, sir, I did." Dengar answered respectively.

"And may I ask why?"

"Yeah, well, because he stole Boba Fett's ship, sir. And, uh, killed his dog."

. . . . . .

"Oh."

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Sutha the Hutt's residence, Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant

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Sutha the Hutt slid down the ramp from the upstairs living quarters to his executive office. He was so lost in thought he didn't even notice the meeting taking place at the board table on the far side of the large room. He barely detected the approach of his majordomo, Rako Hardeen.

"Sutha." Rako called for his attention.

"Yeah?"

Rako glanced at the men at the table. "They've agreed to your terms." Sutha merely nodded his approval. "It's not like you gave them much of a choice anyway though, right?"

Sutha didn't answer.

Rako was surprised by his boss's lack of reaction so leaned closer so the men at the table wouldn't overhear. "Congratulations . . . sir?"

"Have you seen my son?"

"I'll call his boys and see where he's at."

"Have them bring him here straight away. No dawdling." Sutha looked at the men at the table. "Get rid of them."

"Yes, sir."

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An hour later Voras entered the room as if he already owned the place. His Nikto guards were stopped by Sutha's security and kept outside the room. Sutha himself stood behind the bar pouring himself an expensive drink.

Rako Hardeen, still not aware of what was happening, leaned against the bar and resigned himself to following whatever Sutha was playing at tonight. "How was your trip, kid?" Rako asked.

"We won't be hearing from the Pikes anytime soon." Voras proclaimed proudly. "Or ever."

Rako chuckled. Sutha made no response. He took two full glasses in his hands and came around the bar to face his son. He came so close Voras had to nervously slide backwards a few feet. Had he done something to anger his father, he wondered.

Sutha said nothing. He handed Voras one of the glasses and then clinked his own with his son's. Sutha turned back to the bar as Voras downed his glass in a single gulp.

Sutha sat his unconsumed glass on the bar and turned back to his son. "That's a nice chain." Sutha said putting one hand on the thick silver chain around Voras's neck.

"Thanks."

"Yeah." Without warning Sutha drove his other fist deep into Voras's belly. Right where he knew his largest kidney would be.

With the wind knocked out of him, Voras dropped to his hands, opened his mouth to say something, but instead vomited, he gagged as he gasps for breath. Sutha casually returned to the bar, grabbed a towel, and tossed it down onto his son.

In Huttese now, Sutha addressed him "Clean that up."

"Should I go?" Rako asked, getting up.

Sutha spouted something else in Huttese to his henchman. Rako doesn't understand. "Sutha, Basic Standard, please."

"Stay! Boonta dammit!" Sutha yelled at him. Shutting up the human who retook his seat at the bar.

"What did I do?" An injured Voras asked from the floor.

"You fraked up." Sutha told him

"We did what you asked. No one saw shavit."

Sutha reached down and grabbed his son by the arms. He jerked him upright again. "I'm not talking about the Pikes on Ryloth."

"What then?" Voras was still confused. "You mean Dengar's? So I stole a kriffing ship."

Sutha wound back and punched his son in the gut again. This time in his second largest kidney. A couple more and the kid would be pissing blood for days.

"Echuta!" Rako shouted and stood up again. This time because Voras crashed into the bar knocking over Sutha's drink.

"You stay." Sutha pointed at the human. Rako held out his empty hands to show that he was keeping his cool.

Sutha took his time and calmly poured himself another drink. "It's not what you did, son, which angers me so. It's who you did it to."

Voras was confused. "Who? That kriffing nobody?"

"That 'kriffing nobody' . . . is Boba Fett."

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The Fett's apartment

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He was wearing only an undershirt and pants and sweating profusely. Boba wielded a sledgehammer which he swung down onto the floor time and time again, until he cracked the duracrete foundation.

As he brushed off chunks and dust from the duracrete Boba revealed an old trap door in the floor. He shined a lamp down a thin corridor stacked high with a variety of boxes, military containers, and briefcases.

Boba selected a black case, unclasped it, and swung it to reveal a number of blasters, silencers, ammunition and strange rows of aurodium-minted coins.

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Sutha's residence

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"He was once an associate of ours." Sutha started to explain to his confused offspring. "We called him Baba Yaga.

Voras quickly translated the ancient Huttese term into basic, "The Boogeyman?"

"Well, Boba wasn't exactly the boogeyman. He was the one you sent to kill the kriffing Boogeyman."

"Oh." Voras was beginning to realize where he had screwed up. Much too slowly to do him any good now.

"Boba is a man of focus . . . commitment . . . sheer will." Sutha slithered over to face his son up close. "Something you know very little about."

Sutha took a deep breath remembering something from the past. I once saw him kill three Wookiees in a cantina . . . with a stylus. With a . . . farking . . . stylus."

Sutha turned away from Voras and slowly approached Rako Hardeen, who was looking down at the floor trying to avoid their attention. Sutha came alongside the human and then, with a look towards Voras, suddenly mocked driving a stylus into Rako's head. Rako jumped nervously but didn't say anything to interrupt his boss.

Sutha slowly moved back behind the bar where he prepared himself another gallon-sized drink. "And then suddenly one day he asked to leave. It's over a woman, of course. So I made a deal with him. I gave him an impossible task. A bounty no one could have pulled off." Sutha took a large pull from his beverage. "The bodies he buried that day . . . laid the foundation of what we Hutts are now here in the Core Worlds."

Sutha came around the bar again to face his son. He wanted him to feel the impact of everything he was telling him. He wanted to understand how bad he had fierfeked up. "And then, my son, a few days after his wife died . . . you steal his dead father's starship . . . and kill his kriffing akk dog."

Voras lunged forward to grab Sutha's arm. "Father, I can make this right."

"Oh, how do you plan that?"

"By finishing what I started."

Sutha sneered and turned to Rako. "Didn't he hear a kriffing word I said?

Voras broke into Huttese to plead with him. "Father, I can do this. Please!"

Sutha threw his arms around his boy's shoulders and embraced him. "Voras, Voras, listen." He grabbed the folds of fat on Voras's neck and held him still as he whispered in his ear. "Boba will come for you. And you will do nothing . . . because you can do nothing. So get the fark out of my sight."

Sutha released Voras who quickly retreated from the room. Sutha didn't bother to watch his son run. Instead he went to the far side of the room and opened a large hidden wall safe. Inside were stacks of a familiar aurodium-plated coin, Imperial Credits and several leather bound envelopes. Sutha removed one of the latter and brushed the dust off it.

It was a list of comlink numbers. There was one Sutha had never wanted to lose at the top of the list. Rako handed him a comlink and Sutha entered the numbers himself. He couldn't recall the last time he didn't have a henchman or minion do such a menial task for him.

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The Fett Apartment

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Boba didn't react when the comlink chimed. In fact, he had been expecting this call. After all, it was polite manners on the behalf of the expected caller.

He picked up the comlink and held it to his ear.

"Hello, Boba." The unmistakable voice of Sutha the Hutt came through from the other side.

Boba stayed silent.

"I heard about your wife, and I'm sorry. My condolences."

Boba stayed silent.

"It seems to be fate, or happenstance or just bad kriffing luck that has caused our paths to cross again." Sutha said.

Boba stayed silent.

"Boba?"

Boba stayed silent.

"Let us not resort to our baser instincts and handle this like civilized beings. To move on . . ."

Boba deactivated the comlink.

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Sutha's Executive Suite

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Sutha placed his hands on the table before him and braced himself as he leaned forward. Letting out a long sigh.

"What did he say?" Rako asked.

"Enough."

"Oh, by the Core . . ." Rako sighed in frustration. Sutha felt it too. An impending doom.

Sutha turned to his man. "Task a crew."

"How m, m, many?" Rako stuttered nervously.

"How many do you have?"

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The Fett's apartment

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Boba took a cold water shower in the fresher instead of a sonic. The freezing water ran down his back and over tattoos in Mandalorian that said his father's personal motto, Fortune Favors the Bold.

Fortune had not favored the legendary Jango Fett at Geonosis almost twenty years ago. Boba still recalled the pain of watching Jedi Master Mace Windu decapitate his father at the very moment of the Clone War's birth. He buried that hatred he felt for the long dead Jedi and used it to sharpen his skills and training until he had surpassed even his father as the best bounty hunter the Galaxy had ever known.

It wasn't a goal he set out to achieve. He took no glory from it. It's simply what he was.

He dried off and went upstairs. He opened his closet and retrieved his armor from the back of his closet. It had stayed there throughout the time with Sinta. It was not needed then.

It was needed now.

He slowly donned each piece, checking for functionality and ease of movement. Lastly donning the green, t-visored helmet that marked him as a Mandalorian warrior.

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He'd left the lamps on downstairs and darkened his waiting spot in his bedroom. He knew they would come soon and he wanted them accustomed to the light.

His helmet contained a feed to a security cam on the outside balcony and another one in the hallway leading to his front door.

He could see them approaching. He didn't bother to count them. What difference did it make in the end? They were Hutt sleemos; Niktos, Rodians, Weequays and even a large Quarren from the looks of it. All of them heavily armed and with their weapons already drawn and held at the ready.

They silently breached the front door and balcony at the same time. They were professionals but Fett was better. He heard the slide of glass doors downstairs and the slight creak on the floorboards near the front entrance. He picked up his modified EE-3 blaster and then killed the power to the apartment. His home instantly plunged into darkness.

They were outside his bedroom. At least three Weequay dressed in black with small lamps attached to the ends of their blasters to provide them light.

Boba Fett burst out of the darkness. He put his first bolt into the face of the nearest thug. The second one swung his blaster towards the advancing bounty hunter but Boba was quicker. With his free hand he grabbed the Weequay's blaster and wrenched it towards the ceiling. He put a round into the hitman's heart and as he fell Boba put another one into his forehead splattering the wall with Weequay blood.

Boba spun and put another bolt into the chest of the last Weequay, killing him and causing him to fall backwards down the stairs.

A Nikto was on the stairwell and avoided the falling body that went past him. He started to point his blaster towards the second floor. But not before Boba Fett dropped him with a single shot to the top of the Nikto's head.

Boba heard movement below. He didn't want to wait for the men down there to get ready for him. He took a single step forward and then leaped down the entire stairwell without touching a single step.

A Rodian in the living room fired off a trio of blaster rounds as he descended but misjudged Boba's leap and missed entirely.

Boba Fett landed on his feet at the bottom of the stairs. He instantly had his blaster aimed and put a bolt through the Rodian's heart. He adjusted slightly and put another round into a nearby Nikto's head who had been taking cover behind Boba's couch. Both bodies collapsed lifelessly, but Boba had already left the room before they hit the floor.

Boba was a force of nature as he cleared out the apartment. Unstoppable.

In the hallway another Rodian emerged from the refresher. His blaster aimed just slightly to the left of Boba. Boba didn't let him correct his aim, instead he put a single bolt through the Rodian's mouth and brain stem.

Boba stepped into an open coat closet and swapped tibanna cartridges out in his blaster. He could hear more of them approaching down the hall.

Suddenly a hand holding a blaster went past the closet door.

Boba Fett didn't hesitate. He grabbed the blaster then smashed down with his elbow on a Nikto hitman's arm. The Nikto grunted in pain but didn't release the blaster.

Boba pushed him forward into the atrium. Both he and the Nikto refused to release their grip on the blaster. Boba slammed the Nikto into a bookcase. Then pounded his knee into the assassin's side. Boba spun and then flipped the Nikto over his head, slamming him into the hard wood floor where he finally dropped his weapon.

Boba had it in his hand. Raised it and blasted a Weequay, who was charging across the room to help his comrade. The Weequay went down with a bolt sized hole where his eye used to be.

Boba pointed down and fired a shot into the fallen Nikto's head, finishing him off.

Boba looked towards the balcony. A Rodian and a Nikto were approaching the door with aimed flechette launchers.

Boba didn't hesitate. He charged across the room and slammed into the Rodian coming through the entrance. He slapped aside the flechette launcher and leapt at the Rodian's chest, wrapping his legs around alien's hips.

The Rodian was already going down from the unconventional tackle as Boba Fett aimed his EE-3 over his head and put a single round into the Nikto's chest, causing him to fall backwards and topple over the balcony wall.

The Rodian had barely hit the ground when he found himself staring at the barrel of Boba Fett's blaster. It was the last thing he ever saw as the Mandalorian pulled the trigger.

Boba Fett rolled off the dead Rodian and as he jumped back to his feet he put two perfect shots into the foreheads of two charging Weequays from across the room.

As they fell Boba saw a third hitman dive for cover behind the wall leading to the kitchen. Boba ran across the room and took cover on the other side of the wall from the hidden Weequay.

Boba had been in a situation like this before. He ducked just as the Weequay squeezed off several bolts that pierced the wall above Boba Fett's head.

Boba blasted back at an upwards angle. His two bolts caught the Weequay in the shoulder and arm causing him to tumble from cover. Boba grabbed his wounded arm and pulled him forward. He slammed the butt of his EE-3 into the Weequay's head and then threw him through the sliding glass door. The Weequay landed in a shower of broken glass out on the balcony. A second later Boba Fett finished him off with a bolt to the back of the head.

Boba entered the kitchen and caught two last hitman by surprise. The first one, a Rodian, came from his side with his blaster raised. But Boba punched him before he could fire.

He grabbed the front of the Rodian's clothes and picked him up. He then slammed him down onto the room's sturdy kitchen top.

The last man, the large Quarren, attacked while Boba was still entangled with the Rodian, Boba kicked the Quarren across the room. A mistake, Boba realized as the second hitman smashed into the counter with the cutting vibroknives.

Boba was trying to throttle the Rodian as the Quarren drew a large vibroknife and came back at him swinging the blade at Boba's side. The Quarren made the mistake of slashing downwards and Boba was able to parry his arm with his free hand before the Quarren could land a hit.

He shoved the Quarren away. The few feet of space gave Boba just the time he needed to snap the Rodian's neck and focus all of his attention on his last attacker.

The Quarren attacked with vibroblade again. This time Boba reacted in time to grab hold of the weapon's hilt.

Both men struggled for control of the weapon. Kicking and kneeing the other as the wrestled for dominance. The fight threw both men off their balance and they teetered out of the kitchen and on top of one another in the foyer in front of the front door.

Boba had the dominant position and as the Quarren tried to sit up he spun around to the hitman's backside. The Quarren tried to stab upwards and behind him at Boba but Boba deflected each attempt with hard parries to the Quarren's arms.

He got control of the Quarren's hands and aimed the vibroblade at the man's chest. But the Quarren was strong and Boba Fett couldn't pull the weapon from behind with enough strength. He reached down and grabbed the Quarren by the tentacles and pulled him backwards. As the Quarren struggled onto his back Boba scrambled on top of him using his weight and gravity to assist him in driving the weapon towards the Quarren's heart.

Keeping one hand on the vibroblade, Boba struck down with his other hand like a sledgehammer three times driving it deep into the Quarren's chest.

The fight was over.

Boba Fett was still on top of the Quarren's body trying to regain his breath. He didn't think he had stopped for air since he had burst from his bedroom and killed the first assassin.

Sutha did this, Boba thought. If he wants to stand in Boba's way then so be it.

There was a chime as the front door alarm sounded. Boba was gasping for air as he looked up at the sudden disturbance.

He got to his feet, still in full armor and approached the door. He tucked his EE-3 behind his back as he did so.

Boba lowered the pistol and peered through the peephole to see an officer of the Imperial City Guard standing at his door. A beat . . . and Boba slipped the blaster in the back of his pants, unlocked, and opened the door.

"Evening, Boba." The Imperial officer greeted him. Boba Fett recognized him despite the assault armor the officer wore.

"Evening, Fox." Boba replied. "Noise complaint?"

"Noise complaint." Fox agreed.

Fox leaned to the side and peered past Boba. Boba followed his gaze . . . to see that the dead Quarren was in Fox's direct line of sight. Fox removed his helmet to reveal a much older, yet identical, face to Boba's own. "You, ah, working again?"

"No, just sorting some things out."

"Ah, well . . ." Fox nodded. They went back a long way together. "I'll leave you be then. Goodnight, Boba."

"Goodnight, Fox."

Fox went back down the hallway. Boba watched him for a second and then closed his front door.

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Boba turned on the kitchen lamp and sat down at the kitchen counter. The body of a Rodian hitman still rested on the table next to him. He activated his home comlink and dialed a long memorized number.

As he waited for the call to be answered he played with a small stack of fifteen aurodium coins in his hand. "This is Fett."

. . .

"Yes, Boba Fett, that's right."

. . .

"I'd like to make a dinner reservation for fifteen."

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Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door. Boba went to answer it.

When he opened the front door he was greeted by the sight of a short Phindian flanked by four rather large Gamorrean brutes.

"Good to see you, Boba." The Phindian took off his hat and greeted Boba Fett.

"Morelo." Boba stepped back and allowed the party to enter his home. Morelo Eval stayed in the foyer as the four Gamorreans went past carrying a wide assortment of industrial cleaning supplies and cutting tools.

"You look good." Morelo replaced his hat. "And here I feared you left all this behind."

The four Gamorreans were thorough. They picked up every blaster and spent tibanna casing spread throughout the home. They ripped out Boba's carpets and wall paper that were covered in hitmen blood and gore. They dropped plastoid sheets down and piled up the bodies on top. Each corpse bound at the feet and hands to prevent rolling away. Their weapons were placed in their holsters and wrapped up along with the bodies. They mopped up blood in the kitchen and balcony and spackled over carbon scoring along the stair case, new carpet and floor boards were brought in and quickly and expertly replaced by the Gamorrean workers. They even replaced Boba's shattered glass door on his balcony with a replacement they had brought along for just such a need.

They wrapped each tarp in tape and disguised them as either garbage or rolls of carpeting and then removed each body from Fett's apartment by way of a garbage air speeder that hovered just outside of Boba's balcony. The whole process took thirty minutes.

When they were done Boba walked Morelo to the door. The Phindian looked to him. "Will I be hearing from you anytime soon?"

Boba placed fifteen aurodium coins in Morelo's palm. "Goodbye, Morelo."

Morelo Eval smiled before he followed his workers down the hall. "Boba."

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 **So what did everyone think? Should I go on and finish?**


	2. Chapter 2

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Sutha's Executive office

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"Of course he did." Sutha sighed.

Rako Hardeen had just told him the results of the hit they had placed on Boba Fett the night before. Sutha had lost fifteen of his best men. Every single man he had sent.

"Put a bounty on Boba Fett."

"How much?" Rako asked.

"Two million. Imperial." Sutha said. He had been staring at a nearby flaming fireplace in deep thought. He whispered to himself in Huttese, lure the nexu to the banthas.

"Basic, Sutha, please." Rako asked.

Sutha glared at his majordomo. "Put Voras in the Outlander Club and wait."

Rako was confused by his boss's orders. "For what?"

"For Boba Fett, of course."

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Cad Bane's home, Bburra Station, in orbit around Duro

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As he cut vegetables with a large knife, Cad Bane slid them onto the face of an open omelet simmering in the pan. He folded the egg over onto itself just his door chime rang. He answered it.

"Yes?" Cad rubbed his brow with a frown, as he came face to face with Sutha the Hutt. "Come inside."

Cad Bane had Sutha come into his living room. Outside Cad Bane's view screens several of Sutha's guards stood vigilantly on the sidewalk. The walls were covered in mounted, exotic sniper rifles from across the Galaxy. There was of course, no place for a Hutt to sit, so Sutha simply remained next to the largest chair in the room. A techno-service droid emerged from the kitchen with two glasses of water for them.

Cad took a long drink and then asked the Hutt crime lord, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I have a job for you." Sutha said.

"And I've got a holonet connection." Cad said annoyed.

Sutha just grunted and smiled. "I wanted to offer you this face to face seeing as how you might find it . . . personal."

Cad just frowned and waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Would you kill Boba Fett for two million credits?"

Cad Bane took another sip from his glass, but said nothing.

Sutha continued. "After all, you two were close. You even worked with his father in the past."

"Is the bounty exclusive?" Cad Bane asked.

"No, it's open." Sutha admitted. "It's a timely matter. It has to be handled quickly."

Cad Bane sighed. "Consider it done."

"Thank you, Cad. I knew I could trust you."

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The Galactic Hotel, Level 1313, Coruscant

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Boba Fett pulled up directly in front of the exclusive hotel several kilometers below Imperial Center's surface. He got out of his air speeder and removed his luggage from the vehicle's trunk.

No doubt the vehicle would be stolen if he left it in this neighborhood but he didn't care. A pair of guards watched him approach the exclusive hotel. Only a very select and small number of clientele were able to enter the Galactic. They recognized Boba Fett as he approached and one of them even held the door open for him.

Inside the Galactic was a posh and expensive interior in direct opposition to the neighborhood outside. Boba Fett spotted the front desk and made his way towards it. As he made his way across the lobby he recognized at least a dozen of the hotel's current residents. 4-LOM, C-21 Hightower and Sugi were seated together in the midst a game of Dejarik, though they both nodded to him as he went past. Boushh was across the lobby chatting with the Wookiee smuggler, Chewbacca, and that stoopa Corellian he ran with. Derrown was watching the Imperial HoloNews on the lobby's televiewer. Embo was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed watching him go past.

Boba had to wait as the front desk manager was busy with another guest. She was a female bounty hunter that Boba Fett recognized before he had even fully entered the room. The near-human glanced back at him as he stood in line behind her and smiled.

IG-88, the front desk manager, placed a key in front of the female. "Room 1138. Do enjoy your stay."

"Thanks." She responded to the droid then turned to Boba Fett.

"Good seeing you again, Fett."

Boba nodded to her and only responded with a terse, "Sing."

Aurra Sing chuckled and walked away, never looking back.

Boba Fett approached the desk and set his luggage down in front of the counter.

"I have you for two nights?" IG-88 said as it checked a datapad on the counter.

"Depending on business. It may be more." Boba said.

"Of course, sir."

Boba looked around the lobby. "So when did the old place get a face lift?"

"Two years ago. Around the time of the Lothal crisis." IG-88 said. "But I assure you, sir, she really hasn't changed much."

"Same owner?"

"Same owner."

Boba Fett dug into his pocket and retrieved two aurodium coins and placed them on the counter. IG-88 made them vanish in almost a blink of an eye. He handed a key to Boba Fett. "Room 818."

He reached down and picked up his luggage. As he turned towards the turbolift, IG-88 called to him one last time, "And as always, it is a pleasure, having you with us again, Master Fett."

Boba Fett stopped and looked at the droid one last time. He didn't say another word before continuing on his journey.

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Later, after Boba Fett had eaten some room service and situated his luggage, he left his room and took the turbolift back downstairs. This time he passed through the lobby and proceeded down a set of stairs into the Galactic's basement.

He made his way past the hotel's laundry service, kitchens and furnace before coming to a single locked door at the end of a long, poorly lit hallway. There was a coin slit in the door. He retrieved another aurodium coin and inserted it.

Immediately a peephole slid open and a trio of eyes looked back at him. The peephole slid shut a second later and the door was opened by a surly Gran bouncer who allowed him entrance to the room beyond.

Inside was a packed night club filled with the denizens of some of the most notorious crime syndicates from across the known galaxy. Boba recognized members from several Hutt clans, the Black Sun, The Pike Syndicate, Broken Spine. KanjiKlub, The Crymorah Syndicate, the Exchange, and even the Starbolts and the Blast Crew.

A regular who's who of the Imperial most wanted list, if the Empire ever put any effort into tracking them down instead of chasing rebels all across the Outer Rim, that is.

On the stage the Pa'lowick singer, Sy Snottles, was crooning out a tune with the accompaniment of several Bith musicians. Boba walked past one table and was surprised to see Aurra Sing raise her drink in greeting and smile as he walked past. He ignored her. They weren't friends.

Boba Fett saw his destination in a secluded corner booth. The Galactic's owner was sitting there alone going over some balance books. Boba pushed his way through the crowd toward the man.

When he came to the booth the old Weequay didn't notice he was standing over him until Boba said, "Hello, Hondo."

Hondo Ohnaka, former space pirate, looked up to see who had addressed him and grinned widely. "Boba."

As Boba sat down across from his old friend, Hondo noticed Boba's bruises from the night before. "Now as I recall weren't you the one tasked with doling out the beatings, not receive them?"

"Rusty, I guess." Boba admitted.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Hondo asked.

"Voras the Hutt." Boba admitted.

"What about him?"

"I'd like to talk with him."

Hondo chuckled and lifted his drink to his lips, "A talk, you say." He took a drink and then leaned forward. "I'm familiar with the parlance, Boba. I want to ask you this. Have you returned to the fold?"

"Just visiting."

Hondo suddenly spoke very slowly and deliberately. "Have you thought this through? I mean, chewed down to the bone? You got out once. You put so much as a pinky back in this pond . . . you may find that something reaches out . . . and drags you back into its depths."

"Where do I find him?" Boba was determined.

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Sutha's hoverlimo, Airway 405, Uscru Entertainment District

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Sutha sat in silence watching the lights of the city flash past his view screen. Rako Hardeen sat at the front of the passenger compartment speaking to one of their contacts on the comlink.

"Hey, Fett's at the Galactic." Rako told his boss.

Sutha didn't bother to look at his underling, instead muttering to himself. "Welcome home, Boba."

"We have a contact there who's willing to take him out for us. Yeah?"

"How brazen." Sutha said. He was well aware of the Galactic's rule that no business be conducted on its premises upon forfeiture of a great deal more than a simple bounty. "If they are willing to break the rules of the Galactic, double the bounty."

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The Galactic

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"You know the rules." Hondo reminded Boba. "No business can be conducted on these premises lest incurring heavy penalties."

Boba said nothing, wondering how he could extract the location from Hondo without breaking the hotel's rules.

Hondo shook his head and picked up his glass. "Have a drink." He took a sip, "And relax . . . for now." Hondo picked up his reading spectacles and placed them on his face. He resumed his markings in his ledger book.

Boba leaned slightly forward. "It's personal." He then got up and left the booth, leaving Hondo watching him as he disappeared into the crowd. The old Weequay pirate knew the boy was dead serious and thought of a way he could help him out, for old time's sake.

Boba Fett went to the bar. He needed a drink.

A surprised voice from behind the bar called out. "Palp's poodoo, Boba."

Boba was greeted by the sight of a beautiful Mandalorian girl tending bar. He knew her from past jobs and his dealings with his adopted home world.

"Hey, Ketsu." Boba greeted her.

"By the Core," Ketsu Onyo clasped Boba's forearm in the traditional form of Mandalorian greeting and then pressed her forehead to his for a second. She stepped back and checked him out. "How long's it been? Four years?"

"Five and change. You, me and Sabine Wren and that job for the Black Sun on Corellia."

She smiled at the old memory. "So tell me, how's life on the other side?"

"It was good, Ketsu. Far better than what I deserved."

"Hey, I'm sorry to hear about Sin . . ."

"Thanks." Boba cut her off. Thoughts of Sinta would only get in the way of his personal mission tonight.

"I've never seen you like this." Ketsu admitted.

"Like what?"

"Vulnerable." Ketsu smiled.

Boba didn't believe her. "I'm retired."

"Not if you're drinking here, you're not." She pointed with her thumb at the bottles of liquor behind her. "Usual?"

"Please." Boba watched Sy Snoodles sing on stage for a minute while Ketsu Onyo made his drink. She returned to him and slid the drink towards him.

"Compliments of the house."

"Thanks."

Boba looked down at the napkin and was startled by what he saw. He turned and looked towards Hondo's booth. The Weequay was smiling at him. He raised his glass in salute in Boba's direction. Boba nodded in thanks and then left.

Behind him on the napkin, just above a lipstick kiss from Ketsu were the words; OUTLANDER CLUB.

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Outlander Club, Dance Floor Level

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The Outlander Club was an upscale night club and gambling casino that had been built shortly before the Stark-Hyperspace War, the line to get in curled around the side of the building, generously serviced by heat lamps to accommodate the almost non-existent dresses of the many young women.

Security was nervous tonight. None more than the club's security chief, Darts D'Nar. The big Zygerrian was an ex-slaver, who ever since the disgrace of the Zygerrian Empire during the Clone Wars had thrown in his lot with the Hutt Clans. In the past two decades he had climbed higher and higher into Sutha the Hutt's inner circle. A sign of Sutha's trust was that the Hutt had placed his son, Voras, under Darts's protection.

Voras had arrived here several hours ago and had turned the basement level exclusive luxury baths level into his own private playground. Besides the best of his wait staff, Darts D'Nar had also filled the basement with many of his top security men.

Darts D'Nar opened the door from the store room flanked by a pair of his best men. The floor was crowded with young party goers dancing to the beat from a red ball jet organ being played by the Ortolan DJ, Max Rebo.

Darts scanned the crowd for his prey. He no longer had the arrogance he had as a young man when he had nearly beaten the Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi. He knew who was coming. He had seen Boba Fett in action several years ago and knew the man was a killer and not one to be taken likely. There was even a rumor that Boba's father, the legendary Jango Fett, had killed another bounty hunter in one of the alleys outside this very club nearly twenty years ago.

Darts D'Nar put his hand to his ear and activated his micro comlink, instantly getting him in tough with his security teams. "Level 2, give me your status."

"Yeah, the VIP room is clear."

"Balcony, tell me what you see."

"No sign of him here."

"Basement, how is it going down there?"

"Basement, clear."

In the basement Voras the Hutt soaked in a large hot tub. A trio of beautiful Twi'lek girls bathed with him while a bikini clad Theelin waitress delivered them their tenth bottle of Chandrillian champagne that evening. Besides D'Nar's uniformed security team, Voras had several of his entourage partying in many of the tubs in the room. All of them within arm's reach of their weapons.

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Across the airway from the Outlander Club

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Boba Fett watched as an expensive sports landspeeder pulled up in front of the Outlander. Right away a valet rushed out to take the keys from the emerging driver. He recognized the driver and the passenger right away. They were the two Nikto bodyguards that had escorted Voras when he had broken into Boba's home.

The two Nikto walked past the long line at the front door and went to a VIP entrance in a nearby alley. Boba saw that there was only a single guard posted there. The two Nikto shook hands with the guard who immediately granted them entrance to the club.

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Basement Baths

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Voras was drowning out the calming music in the baths with his rendition of an old Hutt drinking song. The Twi'lek girls were laughing at his antics.

Darts D'Nar ignored them as he walked to the edge of the large bath and crouched down. Voras looked up at him. "Come in brother and have a drink with us."

"My job is to keep a boy safe. Not youngling-sit a drunkard." Darts said, which caused Voras to frown.

Then the young Hutt laughed, "Are you scared of the kriffing boogeyman? I'm not."

"No?" Darts wanted to laugh in the pompous Hutt's face. Instead, he grabbed the bottle from Voras's hand. "But you should be."

Darts stood back up and left the basement.

Voras looked back at the Twi'lek girls who stared in stunned silence. No one treats Voras like that, he thought. "I want another bottle!" he yelled to whoever was listening. "Right farking now! Go get me another bottle!" He angrily splashed at the girls.

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Outlander Club exterior

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Malakili took a long drag from his cigarra. He hated security work but he needed the credits. A few weeks working for Darts D'Nar and he'd have enough to catch back up with the Circus Horrificus and return to his work as a Beast master.

Lost in his thoughts he never heard the steps behind him until the muzzle of a blaster was pressed against the back of his head.

"Hello, Malakili." A familiar voice greeted him.

"Mr. Fett."

"You've lost weight."

"Over sixty kilos."

"Yeah? Impressive."

"Are you here on business, sir?"

"Afraid so, Malakili." Boba Fett said, never lowering the blaster. "Why don't you take the night off?"

Malakili reached up and removed the comlink from his ear. He turned to Boba Fett and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

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Outlander bath changing rooms

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Vizam changed faster than his fellow Nikto, Xun, who was still changing into his swim trunks at the lockers behind him. Vizam ignored the slowpoke as he filled the sink with water. He wanted to brush his teeth before he talked with any of the cute groupies Voras was sure to have hanging around.

Vizam had been humming to himself when the creak of the refresher door distracted him. He turned in time to see it shut. Hadn't there been a guard stationed there a minute ago, he wondered. Perhaps the door had been the man leaving the room. It didn't matter anyway, Vizam thought, all this talk of the Boogeyman just had him jumpy tonight.

Vizam picked at his teeth for a minute then bent down to rinse out his mouth. As he leaned over the sink he thought he heard a small slashing noise.

As he straitened up he saw Xun in the fresher's mirror. The other Nikto was slumped over and resting on the ground. A long streak of fresh red blood was on the lockers above the corpse.

Vizam turned just in time to receive a punch square in his nose, sending him back into the sink.

Boba Fett stood there in green and gray Mandalorian armor. Vizam saw that he was also armed with at least a dozen visible weapons and assumed another dozen concealed ones. "Where is Voras?" Fett demanded.

"Fark you, schutta!" Vizam tried to swing at the bounty hunter. Boba Fett stepped back and easily dodged the blow. He brought his boot up and kicked Vizam in the cheeblies. Vizam screamed as he thought he felt one of them burst.

Boba Fett grabbed Vizam by the front of his robe and spun him around wrapping a durasteel garrote around the Nikto's throat. "Where is Voras?"

Vizam struggled for breath. "Bathhouse, basement level."

"You stole my ship." Fett slammed Vizam's head into the sink. "And you killed my akk dog."

He held Vizam's face under the water while strangling him from behind.

"Fark you!" Vizam shouted under the water.

Boba Fett didn't have time for this poodoo. With a jerk he snapped Vizam's neck with a sharp crack.

He let Vizam's body fall to the floor with a thud. He noticed the Nikto's comlink next to the sink and stuck it in a pouch on his utility belt.

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Boba Fett entered the basement level through a service stairwell. The basement area where he emerged was dark, which suited Boba Fett's needs. The interior of the bath area was lit by blue lamps which sent rippling reflections from the baths across the walls. He could hear Voras inside the large tub area, singing an obnoxious song to entertain his friends and lackeys.

Boba sneaked to the edge of the lighted area and spotted the Hutt in the water across the room. He peered at him for a second, then backed away into the darkness. His quick glance had given him an accurate count of guards and party guests in the room. He mentally noted every one's place inside the bathhouse.

Boba ignored the Hutt for now, instead making his way towards the nearest guard, whose back was still towards him. It was a human guard who raised a comlink to his mouth. Boba paused his attack for a second as the man talked to his superior.

"Basement all clear." The guard said and then turned away from the pillar he had been leaning against. His turn took him into direct contact with Boba Fett who pulled him back into the darkness.

Boba covered the sentry's mouth and plunged his gauntlet's vibroblade into his guts. He stepped back and chopped the man in the throat as he withdrew the blade. Then covering the mouth again stabbed the guard under his jaw so that the blade drove deep into the, now deceased, guard's brain. It all happened in less than two seconds.

Boba locked eyes with the man as he lowered him to the ground. Leaving him in the dark, Boba Fett advanced and hid behind a towel rack. Between the rows of towels he once again got eyes on to Voras, now only fifteen meters away.

A door suddenly opened next to him and a security guard emerged. This one a Trandoshan, who saw Boba Fett and hissed, "Who are you?"

The Trandoshan was reaching for a blaster holstered at his hip but Boba was on top of him just as it was withdrawn. Boba grabbed the lizard's blaster hand and held it away, preventing the Trandoshan from aiming it at him. The Trandoshan tried to head butt Boba Fett, but he pulled back and kneed the guard in the chest. The Trandoshan shook it off and tried to bring his blaster around to face the Mandalorian. Boba smashed his elbow down hard on the Trandoshan's elbow causing him to drop the weapon. Boba threw a punch which the guard ducked by crouching down. Before Boba could recover from his swing the Trandoshan charged forward carrying the both of them into the towel rack which tipped over and crashed into the room.

Several women screamed and Voras's guards were jumping out of the baths as Boba spun around and sat on the Trandoshan's chest. The lizard struggled in his grip as Boba grasped him by the throat.

Voras looked on stunned as he tried to figure out what the commotion was all about.

Boba Fett withdrew his EE-3. He put three perfect blasts into the chest of a human security guard across the room.

"Go!" Voras screamed at his guards. The Twi'lek's screamed again and leapt from the hot tub in every direction. None of the girls willing to stop a bolt for the Hutt.

Voras's eyes suddenly went wide. Boba Fett, still kneeling on the struggling Trandoshan swung his blaster around and pointed it directly at the Hutt's face. There was no way he could miss at this distance.

Boba Fett was glaring behind his helmet. He didn't blast Voras just then but instead pointed the blaster down and put a single bolt into the back of the Trandoshan's head.

Boba got up and lined up a shot at Voras who was attempting to scramble out of his bath. Just as he squeezed the trigger a large Wookiee guard lunged out of the nearest hot tub and hit Boba Fett's arm. The bolt went wide, missing Voras entirely.

The Wookiee towered over Boba Fett squeezing his wrist and trying to force him to drop the blaster. Boba pulled out a vibroblade from his belt and plunged into the walking carpet's shoulder. The Wookiee howled in pain. Boba glanced down and stomped on the brute's foot. The Wookiee dropped its grip on Boba's wrist and grabbed at its own assaulted appendage.

Boba Fett took advantage of the momentary distraction to put three bolts into the Wookiee's belly. As the hairy guard looked up just as Boba put another round into its forehead. The Wookiee, in its death throes, stiffened like a board and fell backwards into the bath Voras had just vacated.

Boba spun around to watch Voras slide across the room. The Hutt grabbed one of the fleeing Twi'lek girls and held her in front of him as a shield. Boba was more concerned with not being able to hit Voras than he was with hitting the tail-head, but he held his fire, nonetheless.

Voras headed for the stairs leading up to the dance floor. Boba Fett took the time to switch from his half-spent EE-3 to a DH-17 blaster pistol.

Voras pushed the useless girl aside when he got to the bottom of the stairs. Faster than any Hutt should be able he shimmered up the stairs almost as fast as a biped could have. Boba Fett blasted three bolts at the fleeing slug but a permaglass wall between him and Voras deflected each of the bolts. Voras was pelted with flying permaglass as the barrier shattered behind him.

A bolt zipped past Boba Fett's helmet from behind. Boba immediately dropped into a crouch and blasted off an unaimed shot at another human guard across the room. Boba ducked behind a table with several bottles atop it. The bottles shattered as the human guard's blasts tore through them.

Boba swore to himself. Voras was getting away.

Boba exposed just the top of his helmet and the blaster. Taking a half second to ensure his aim he put two bolts in the human's face. As the guard dropped, Boba Fett was on his feet again and sprinting for the stairs.

As soon as he reached the stairs he put another two rounds into a Rodian guard who had arrived at the top of the stairs. Boba ignited his jetpack and flew up the stairs over the toppling Rodian, whose body hit the bottom of the steps with a bloody smack.

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Darts D'Nar had seen the whole fight from the Trandoshan to the Wookiee on the club's security cams. He had raced down to the basement level just in time to see Boba Fett fly up the stairwell towards the dance floor.

He had just enough time to fire one shot from his blaster, but he misjudged the jetpack's speed and the bolt slammed into the wall behind Boba Fett.

"Follow me!" He ordered the remaining guards in the basement and ran towards the stairs.

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Voras emerged onto the crowded dance floor still dripping wet from the baths. For most species this would have been dangerous on the tiled plastoid but for a Hutt it just made them more slippery. And for a Hutt slippery meant speed.

He crashed through the crowd in a panic to stay ahead. He pushed dancers aside and grabbed which ever security personnel he could and hurled them behind him to slow down the boogeyman.

He looked back over his shoulder and saw Boba Fett step forward onto the stage next to Max Rebo's DJ booth. He locked eyes with the Mandalorian. No doubt Boba could see the fear in his eyes.

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Voras was panicked, Boba could see it in his eyes, even across the crowd of dancers and the effects of the strobe lamps on the dance floor. The Ortolan DJ's music was so loud it was causing Boba Fett's armor to reverberate against his chest.

Boba knew guards were advancing on him through the crowd. And even though his target was running he took his time pushing through the mob of dancers.

The first guard to get to Boba was a Bothan who unfortunately hadn't drawn his weapon yet. Boba pulled him forward as he passed between two dancers and pressed his blaster against the Bothan's chest. He squeezed the trigger twice and kept moving.

The crowd heard the two shots and started to scream and flee. The dancers became a swirling mass of movement as they ran for their lives. Boba Fett ignored them and concentrated on spotting the red shirts of the Outlander's security team.

The next one was a human again. This one had a blaster out and aimed at Boba's head. Boba ducked to the left as the shot went off. He swept the legs out from under the human. The man slammed to the dance floor. Before he could react Boba finished him off with a bolt to the forehead.

The crowd closed in as Boba chased after Voras. Some of them tripping over the bodies on the dance floor.

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"Fett's down here. He's in the building!" Darts shouted into his comlink as he reached the Dance Level. The crowd ahead of him was scattering like a wild band of bantha.

Across the room he spotted that stoopa Hutt, Voras, climbing the stairs to the Balcony Level.

There was a commotion out in the center of the dance floor. Darts D'Nar couldn't spot what had caused it but he was positive Boba Fett was at the center of it.

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Voras shoved beings aside as he reached the front entrance to the Outlander. He saw half a dozen guards at the front doors and rushed towards them.

"Move! He's here! He's kriffing here!" He pointed back towards the Balcony Level. "He's there! He's coming!"

Voras then slithered through the doors and fled outside.

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Boba Fett got to the lounge area at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Balcony Level. There were ten large pillars there with club guests gathered around them still holding their drinks and unaware of the panic on the dance floor.

They were about to find out what they had been missing out on.

A surprised human guard spun around just as Boba arrived. Boba blasted him twice in the chest and shoved him back into the crowd. One more shot into the Nikto guard's face on his right, then Boba turned to his left and put another round in the Barabel guard coming at him. All three guards collapsed to the floor at the same time.

A Rodian jumped out and swatted Boba's blaster arm downwards. This move just aimed the blaster at the Rodian's leg. Boba took the shot and as the Rodian jumped back from the blast to its leg Boba put another round in his face to finish him off.

The next guard was a human and Boba was able to put a round into his shoulder before the human could hit him. Boba grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Once on the ground Boba shot the human in the neck and chest.

An Aqualish guard was right behind the human and Boba jabbed the walrus-face in the throat before he could attack. The Aqualish stumbled backwards into a pillar and stood there gasping for air and staring at Boba. Boba Fett popped the empty tibanna magazine out of his pistol and slapped in a new one. He fired the first bolt into the Aqualish.

Boba spun and shot a Nikto guard twice in the head as he emerged from the dance floor. Then spun again and put two more into a human coming down from the Balcony Level stairs.

An Iktotchi guard behind the human took cover behind the nearest pillar. Boba Fett took cover on the other side of the same pillar. He peeked out and noticed the Iktotchi's foot was sticking out and without skipping a beat shot the guard in the toe. The Iktotchi fell away from the pillar in pain, which was all the opening Boba Fett needed to put one round in his neck and another into his left eye before kicking him into the crowd that was threatening to block the stairwell.

Boba Fett sprinted up the stairs and saw a Rattataki aiming a blaster rifle at him. Boba dove at the guard's feet, knocking him down. A stream of bolts from the blaster rifle zipped down into the dance floor crowd. Boba grabbed the rifle's muzzle and swung the guard to the ground, using the reversal of leverage to regain his own footing. He put two rounds into an approaching Gran guard and then another two into the fallen Rakkataki.

The Balcony Level was much darker than the Dance Level as all the lamps were generally aimed towards the dance floor below and the Balcony Level was arranged around dozens of cozy alcoves designed to give guests more privacy. Boba Fett ducked into a darkened alcove. It had taken him less than a minute to cut through the guards on the dance floor and now he needed to reload his weapons. Without taking his eyes off the now panicked crowd rushing past his hiding spot he exchanged empty tibanna magazines in his blasters for new ones from his belt.

He popped out of his hiding hole a second after finishing and put three rounds into an approaching unaware human guard who fell at his feet. The blaster fire alerted every remaining security guard to his location.

More guards rushed him but Boba Fett was like a force of nature. He blocked blows and parried blaster muzzles away from him as they fired. He dispatched one guard after another on the Balcony Level, sometimes with only a single heartbeat between kills. Every guard he knocked to the ground was immediately finished with a blaster bolt to the head. Boba was trained never to leave an enemy to his rear where they could recover and strike at him again.

Boba rushed across the balcony with his blaster aimed in front of him. He passed overturned chairs and tables and frightened party-goers. Strobe lights from the dance floor illuminated his path as pulsing music drowned out the screams of the club's guests.

A large purple Twi'lek emerged from behind a pillar and fired at Boba. Boba ducked at the last possible instant as the bolt missed his helmet by millimeters. He blasted back wildly, missing the Tail-head, as he ducked behind another pillar.

The Twi'lek charged across the three meters separating them. Boba saw a glass pitcher of Ebla on a table next to him, grabbed it and spun back around the pillar towards his attacker. He smashed the pitcher squarely in the face of the Twi'lek who reeled back in pain from the surprise attack.

That was all the space Boba Fett needed as he grabbed the Twi'lek by the lekku, fiercely yanked him down so that his head was flat on the table and then put two bolts into the Twi'lek's ear.

A bolt ricocheted off Boba's back armor. He spun around to see a Zygerrian blasting at him from the near the front entrance. The last guard that stood between him and Voras. What was more, Boba recognized the Zygerrian as Darts D'Nar, an ex-slaver thug who had risen high in the ranks of Sutha's cartel.

Darts put two bolts into Boba's chest knocking him off his feet. The hits stung but his armor had stopped them from penetrating. Boba quickly sat up. Darts was rapidly approaching. Boba fired several bolts that caused Darts to duck unharmed behind a pillar ten meters away.

Boba rolled to his side to regain his footing just as Darts emerged from behind the pillar. Several fleeing guests came between them ruining both of their aims for several seconds. Enough time for Boba to fall back several pillars and take cover as he fought to recover the breath that was knocked out of him by Darts's shots. Darts didn't see which one he ducked behind and was slowly moving forward, checking every hiding spot in search of the bounty hunter.

Boba Fett was crouched down trying to recover when the muzzle of a blaster suddenly appeared to his right. It was aimed too high but Boba wasn't going to give Darts a chance to correct his aim. The Mandalorian burst from his cover and grabbed Darts by the arm forcing the blaster away from him. Darts didn't drop the weapon but Boba had control of his arms. Darts fired half his clip into the floor of the club as he struggled to break free.

The Mandalorian tried another trick and flipped the Zygerrian over his back. The momentum of the move carried him with it and he landed on top of Darts. Darts still had a death grip on the blaster pistol. Boba slammed Darts's hand onto his knee pad causing him to finally drop the weapon.

But Darts was just as crafty and flipped Boba backwards and off of him. Just as Boba recovered and stood up Darts was on him with a stunning kick to the chest. Darts put all his weight into the blow that sent Boba Fett staggering for several steps.

Boba put up his hands and came at Darts swinging but the Zygerrian was ready and pummeled Boba with several quick kicks to his side. Boba swung at Darts' head but was parried and Darts responded with a trio of blows to Boba's stomach and ribs. Boba grunted in pain, still not recovered from being shot in the chest just seconds before.

Darts grabbed another mistimed punch and placed Boba in an arm lock before kneeing him in the back. He then twisted Boba's captured arm and flipped him hard onto his back upon the floor with a resounding crash.

Boba didn't wait to catch his breath. In a flash he was back on his feet and lunged at Darts grabbing him by the collar of his suit and shoving him backwards. They didn't stop until they collided with the railing overlooking the dance floor. Boba shoved his hand in Dart's face attempting to push the Zygerrian over the edge.

Darts saw an abandoned table full of drinks next to them as he was pinned against the railing. He reached out and grabbed a bottle of Shesharilian vodka and smashed it across Boba's T-visor. Darts held onto the smashed stem of the bottle and stabbed the bounty hunter in the ribs just below Boba's chest plate.

Boba's grip lessened and Darts shoved him backwards. Boba knocked the broken bottle out of Darts's hand and then both of them exchanged several blows while they attempted to get the upper hand over their opponent.

Darts suddenly crouched down and grabbed at Boba's legs. He seized the Mandalorian and threw him over his shoulders. Boba grunted in pain as his own body weight crashed down upon his injury.

Darts spun around and stepped to the railing. With a grunt he hurled Boba Fett over the side.

Boba didn't have time to ignite his jet pack and instead slammed down hard onto the dance floor. His armor was the only thing that prevented the breaking of several of Boba Fett's bones.

Darts was looking over the railing and down at Boba. But Boba still had one more surprise. He pulled out a hold-out blaster tucked into the waist band at his back and pointed up at Darts. The Zygerrian ducked backwards just as several bolts slammed into the railing.

The lights went out in the club as Boba got to his feet once again. Voras was gone so there was no reason to stay here any longer. The bounty hunter used the darkness to blend into the fleeing dancers and made for the nearest exit.

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Voras's landspeeder

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Voras was shaken as his driver sped away from the Outlander. He picked up the vehicles comlink and dialed a number.

It was answered several seconds later. Voras could hear a commotion on the other side of the line, probably caused by beings still fleeing the Outlander Club.

"Vizam, where the fierfek are you?" Voras demanded.

"Vizam's dead." The unmistakable voice of Boba Fett answered. Then switching to Huttese, "Everything has a price."

The line went dead.


	3. Chapter 3

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The Galactic, lobby

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Boba had lost a lot of blood from the stab wound D'Nar had given him, by the time he had made it back to the Galactic. A lot of it had soaked through his clothes and stained his armor.

IG-88 stared at him as he crossed the lobby, eventually greeting him as he approached the front desk. "Good evening, Master Fett."

"Good Evening." Boba responded through clenched teeth as he ignored the pain from his injuries.

"How may I be of service?"

"Is the medical droid in?"

"Yes, sir. 24/7."

"Send it up please."

"Yes, sir."

"How good is your laundry?"

IG-88 stayed silent for a second as its scanners ran over Boba Fett's clothes. "I'm sorry to say that no one is that good."

"No, I thought not." Boba said as he turned away from the desk towards the turbolifts.

"May I suggest a drink, sir?" IG-88 caught him. "Alderaan bourbon, perhaps."

"That sounds perfect."

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Boba Fett's suite, the Galactic Hotel

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Boba Fett laid back in the reclining chair and took a long pull from the bottle of Alderaan bourbon. He'd never been to Alderaan. Sinta had wanted to go, but that was before her disease had stunted any travel plans they had made. Maybe he'd go there after this was all over.

The hotel's resident surgical droid, 2-1B, was stitching up the nasty stab wound that Darts D'Nar had inflicted on Boba's abdomen. Boba grunted from the discomfort as he leaned over and poured himself another glass.

"So what sort of movement am I looking at?" Boba asked the droid.

"Well, if you're looking to heal then keep it marginal." 2-1B responded. Something about its automated tone suggested it didn't believe Boba would follow its medical advice. "However, if you still have 'business' to attend to . . ." It reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a bottle of pills, "take two of these beforehand."

Boba took the bottle and read the prescription. Bota pills.

"Your stitches will tear and you will bleed but you'll have full function." The droid finished its last stitch. "Do you need anything for the pain?"

Boba held up his full glass of bourbon. "No, I've got that covered." He then drank the whole thing in three large swallows before putting the glass down again.

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The alley across from the Galactic

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Cad Bane emerged on to the roof top and immediately used the shadows to blend in and vanish from the view of anyone looking out their view screen from the Galactic. He had stayed there many times over the years and knew the layout well.

He put down the case he was carrying and pulled out the pieces of a CM "Reaper" sniper rifle. With the ease of many years of practice he assembled the weapon in the dark. Looking through the scope he went from one view screen of the Galactic to the next scanning for his target, until he found him.

He spotted Boba Fett just as the younger human laid down on the sleeper in his room.

Cad Bane lined up his shot.

There was a mirror just above Boba Fett's head that showed the room. The front door cracked open. Someone was sneaking into Boba's room while he slept.

Cad pulled the trigger.

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Boba Fett's suite

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Boba woke with a start as a sniper bolt slapped into the pillow beside his head.

He didn't know who was blasting at him but he wasn't going to give them a chance at a second shot. He rolled off the sleeper in a flash and took cover on the far side away from the view screen.

He heard someone in the room with him. He peeked out from behind the sleeper to see that a gunman had entered the room. The assassin saw his movement and turned their blaster in his direction. Boba ducked back just before a pair of bolts sliced through the space where his head had been a second before.

Boba's quick look had identified the gunman; Aurra Sing.

Aurra grinned as she realized his vulnerability. "Hey, Boba."

Boba leapt to his feet and then tucked and rolled across the sleeper. Aurra stitched half a dozen bolts into the bed, missing Boba by a hair with each shot.

"Sing."

"I thought I'd let myself in." Aurra said taking cover behind the corner leading to the room's hallway. Boba ducked down behind a night stand and attempted to discern her position.

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around both hands as a garrote. "I noticed."

He rushed forward. She heard him coming.

Just as her blaster emerged from behind the corner he wrapped it in the towel and shoved it downward. A single bolt rang out. He lifted it up and it went off again, blasting a hole in the ceiling.

He slammed Aurra into the wall forcing her to drop the blaster. He quickly wrapped the towel around her neck to strangle her. He didn't want to kill her just yet. He wanted answers first.

"I didn't know Aurra Sing to get out of bed for less than three."

"Sutha's giving me four to break hotel rules." She growled at him.

"That's unwise, I assure you." Boba could see in her eyes she had little respect for the Galactic's rules. She always did think she was better than the rest of us, he remembered.

She laughed. Boba spun around, pulling on the towel as he did so. The move pulled Aurra over his back and slammed her onto the floor of his room at his bare feet.

He lifted her back to her feet. She spit in his face as he choked her with the towel. She sneered, "You were always a yellow schutta."

She punched him square in the neck then followed up her strike with another to the wound on his ribs. He dropped the towel in pain. He swung at her and missed, but she grabbed his arm and used his forward momentum to flip him onto his back. Boba tucked and rolled and came to his feet, facing her, from across the room.

She shrieked and lunged at him just as the room's comlink rang. They traded a dozen blows to each other as their fight moved from one area of the room to the next destroying one piece of furniture after another.

Aurra got Boba on the couch. She had a superior position on him from behind and started to strangle him with her forearm. Boba stood up and grabbed her head, causing them to both flip forward. But Aurra didn't lose her hold as they rolled across the carpet.

Boba stood again, Aurra still clinging to his back. He rushed across the room, spun and slammed Aurra into a mirror causing glass to shatter to the floor. He rushed to another wall and slammed her again. She still wouldn't release her grip so he flipped her onto the sleeper.

Aurra was on all fours now alongside Boba. She held his head down as she rained a series of blows from her knee into his side. Boba stood up and she immediately punched him in his man blaster. Boba fought through the urge to double over in pain and instead focused on picking up Aurra and body slammed her through the room's table.

He ignored the pain from his crotch, ribs and the continuing ring of the comlink and grabbed the sheet from the sleeper. Before Aurra could recover from her explosive table crash, he was behind her and wrapped the sheet around her head. He stood her up by holding the sheet tightly around her face and then punched her squarely between her eyes.

As she collapsed he grabbed her, threw her over his shoulders and then tossed her in the corner, smashing one of the room's lamps in the process. Aurra lay still on the floor. He'd seen death enough in his life to know she was simply knocked unconscious.

He crossed the room and answered the comlink. "Yes?"

It was the front desk. "I apologize for calling you at this hour." IG-88 said. "But we have received a number of grievances from your floor concerning the noise."

Boba heard the door to his room open. Aurra had come to and was trying to escape. However, her injuries were preventing her from moving at anything faster than a crawl.

"My apologies," Boba told the droid. "I was dealing with an uninvited guest."

"Have you need of then, say . . . a dinner reservation, perhaps?" IG-88 asked.

"Perhaps, I will have to get back to you."

Boba hung up the comlink and grabbed one of his blaster pistols. Still dressed in his sleepwear he walked out into the outer hallway to find Aurra Sing slowly crawling towards the turbolifts. He walked up to her and put her in a headlock from behind, placing the blaster to her temple."

She winced in pain. "No, ahh!"

"Where's Voras?" Boba demanded.

"Frak you!" Aurra grunted.

"Where's Voras?" Boba calmly repeated.

"I'm not telling you poodoo."

Boba pressed the muzzle of the blaster into her temple. "Do you really want to die here, Sing? Give me something."

Aurra's breathing increased as she considered her options. She knew a dozen ways to break free but Boba knew every counter to what she might try. She had, after all, aided in his training when he was nothing but a lost youngling. He had learned his lessons too well.

"Little Nal Hutta." She finally admitted. "There's a Church of the First Frequency on Blaster Boulevard."

"What about it?"

"It's a front." Aurra said. "It's where Sutha keeps his private stash."

"Thank you." Boba smashed the butt of the weapon into the back of Aurra's head knocking her out cold.

Boba carefully laid Aurra Sing to the ground. Before he could straighten up, he paused when he heard the unmistakable sound of a hammer being cocked on an old-fashioned slugthrower pistol behind him.

"Do I know you?" A voice from his distant past asked.

Boba cocked his head to the side. "I'm thinkin' so." He set his blaster down beside Aurra's unconscious body and put his hands up slowly.

He slowly turned his head to see a male Belugan holding a slugthrower on him from another hotel room. The alien recognized Boba just as he identified him as Otua Blank, the former dictator of Querzite who turned to crime after being ousted from power. Boba Fett had done a job for him during the Clone Wars. Otua lowered his weapon. "Hello, Boba."

"Hey, Otua."

"Everything alright?"

Boba glanced down at Aurra Sing, "Yeah, everything's fine."

Otua Blank started to turn back to his room. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Hey, Otua." Boba stopped the Belugan. "You keen on earning a coin?"

"Babysit the sleeping one?" Otua asked. Boba nodded. "Catch and release?"

"Catch and release." Boba Fett confirmed. He only needed her out of the way for a few hours while he checked out the location she gave him.

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Outside of the Church of the First Frequency on Blaster Boulevard

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Boba Fett was fully armored up again and armed to the teeth. He removed the bottle of Bota pills from his belt and popped two in his mouth before placing his helmet on his head.

Celestial organ music played on the church's audicasters as Boba Fett entered the building from the rear. Ahead of him the pews were sparsely populated by only a handful of parishioners offering prayers to the spirit of the Core, the Force, the Celestials or whatever these people worshipped here.

Boba walked directly down the center aisle towards the altar at the front of the church. He didn't react when two large parishioners, a pair of Gamorreans, one on each side of him, watched him go past their pews.

A Neimoidian priest stepped out from a room beside the altar and spotted the armored Mandalorian. He approached Boba Fett before he was half way down the aisle. "My son, how may I help you?"

Boba Fett hit the snap on his holster and freed his EE-3 carbine rifle which was pointed in the priest's face before the Neimoidian could even blink. The priest took several steps back in shock that anyone would threaten him here in Sutha's sanctuary. Boba lowered the carbine slightly and blasted the Neimoidian once in the thigh. The priest dropped to the ground in pain.

Boba Fett turned to his left and put a single round in the face of the Gamorrean there. Keeping the weapon tucked to his shoulder he spun on the Gamorrean to his right. The second Gamorrean was attempting to free a vibroaxe on his belt when Boba blasted him straight through the heart. A slight adjustment up and to the rear of the church and Boba placed a perfect headshot on the hidden Rodian gunman in the church's second story choir section.

The Neimoidian priest leaned against the first row of pews in an attempt to stay upright. His blood spilled out in the center aisle as Boba turned his weapon back on him. He spoke in Huttese. "Echuta! Do you know who you are fierfeking with you kriffing scum?"

"Yes." Boba Fett answered in the language of the Hutts, before grabbing the holy man by his collar and yanking him to his feet. The Neimoidian winced in pain from his wound. "Yes I do."

Boba jabbed the muzzle of his weapon into the priest's side and shoved him ahead of him. "Let's go to the vault."

To the side of the altar was the room the priest had originally emerged from. To the back of it was a winding staircase. As Boba pushed the priest forward down the stairs, an armed Nikto poked its head out from around a corner at the bottom of the stairs. A single bolt from Boba's carbine dropped the guard, splattering Nikto blood and brains across the wall at the bottom of the steps.

He heard the sound of another guard in the room below so he shoved the priest down the stairs. Another Nikto was down there but held his fire when he saw the priest crash to the bottom of the stairwell. His attention was on the wrong person as Boba emerged and blasted the second Nikto in the shoulder, spinning him around and dropping him to the floor.

Behind the stricken Nikto was another room separated from the guards by a set of durasteel bars. Beyond the bars were a pair of female accountants, a yellow Twi'lek and a Theelin, who screamed at the sudden blood and blaster fire that had exploded into their little world.

Boba picked up the priest and pushed him forward. He kicked the pistol out of the hand of the fallen Nikto. He pushed the Neimoidian into the bars. Boba saw that the barrier could only be open by an electronic key code.

"Open it." Boba demanded of the priest.

"Do you think you can scare me into opening this gate?" The priest said in defiance.

Boba pressed his carbine into the Neimoidian's forehead. "Yes I do. Open the gate."

"Sutha will kill me."

The second Nikto was attempting to rise behind him. Boba spun and kicked the guard in the head then put two bolts in his chest. The EE-3 was back on the priest in an instant. Boba growled at him, "Uh-huh."

The Neimoidian sighed, knowing he had no real choice. He reached over and put his code into the gate's keypad. The durasteel bars retracted into the floor allowing access to the room beyond. Boba walked in as if he owned the place. His carbine pointed threateningly he waved with his free hand at the accountants. "Ladies, out."

They couldn't move fast enough as they ran past him and the priest as they fled toward the stairs. "Have a nice day." He called after them.

The room was full of stacks of high value Imperial credit chips, Dathomiri spider silk, bearer cards, wupuipi, Corusca gems, peggats, mesarcs, glow pearls and Old Republic credit scripts. Boba Fett pushed all of it off the tables and into a large pile on the vault's floor.

The priest stared at him as he emerged from the vault. "Honestly, what do you think you are going to do with it all?"

"This." Boba turned back towards the pile and ignited the flamethrower on his gauntlet.

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Rooftop across from the Church of the First Frequency, twenty minutes later

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Boba Fett had carefully chosen a vantage point that concealed him from onlookers on the roadway below. Smoke was still pouring from several lower windows but no one had dared to call Imperial Center RescueOps.

A dozen heavily armed guards stood out in front of the church as an armored landspeeder pulled up in front. Boba recognized it as Sutha's.

The Hutt crime boss emerged from the vehicle and shoved a guard out of his way. Boba Fett turned up his helmet's long range sound amplifier in time to hear Sutha say. "Get me the kriffing stoopa!"

Two guards dragged the Neimoidian priest from the church and dropped him in front of Sutha. The priest tried to grovel for his life and say that the destruction of Sutha's vault wasn't his fault. Sutha nodded to Rako Hardeen who was standing behind the Neimoidian.

Rako pulled out a blaster pistol and shot the Neimoidian in the back of the head. The executed man collapsed on the sidewalk. Boba didn't expect any one to report the murder that took place in broad daylight.

Time to move, Boba Fett thought and then left his hiding spot.

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Otua Blank's suite, Galactic Hotel

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A bound and gagged Aurra Sing glared at the Belugan as he got dressed for his day. Otua approached her and tore the tape off her face. The rip burned sharply.

"Don't worry. Housekeeping will find you." He told her.

"Treat all your ladies like this?" Aurra asked, clandestinely working on the binds that kept her arms pinned behind her chair.

Otua chuckled as he gathered his things to leave. He flipped the aurodium coin Boba had given him between his fingers. "You are no lady. Trust me."

Aurra snapped her left wrist bone. The Belugan didn't hear the small noise. "Otua, is it?" She looked at the object in his hand. "How would you like to earn more than just an aurodium coin?"

Otua took on a stern grimace. He approached her again. "You've broken the rules. You've done business on Galactic grounds. And management does not take kindly to that sort of behavior."

Aurra slipped her hand free behind her. "Fierfek management."

She head butted Otua directly in his beak. The Belugan reeled backwards in pain and tripped over his sleeper. Aurra Sing was on him in an instant. She placed a pillow over his face and pulled his pistol out of the holster on his waist. Before he had the chance to recover she put the blaster to the pillow and shot him through his face.

She looked down at the Belugan corpse on the sleeper. "Don't worry. Housekeeping will find you."

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Outside of the Church of First Frequency, Little Nal Hutta, Coruscant

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"Echuta." Sutha said turning away from the priest's corpse. He was being followed by several of his top men, Rako Hardeen and Darts D'Nar. He mocked the dead Neimoidian's sham religion. "Static to static."

He was livid. He was so angry he was starting to froth at the mouth. The large Hutt spun on his majordomo, Rako, and jabbed a meaty finger in the human's chest. "Can we recover from this?"

"Sutha, you know what was in that vault, right?" Rako said calmly. He was obviously trying not to make his boss any angrier. There was no telling who a Hutt would lash out at in a situation like this. "It's not . . ."

Sutha just shoved him back and turned back to his landspeeder. He didn't want to hear his man's excuses.

Suddenly, blaster fire rang out. Sutha turned just in time to see the forehead of the guard beside Rako explode in a bloody mist.

Stang it, Boba Fett was still here, Sutha realized. He had assumed Boba would have been long gone after his little arson job. He looked up the sidewalk and spotted him, walking in full Mandalorian armor with a FWMB-10 repeating blaster tucked into a firing position at the bounty hunter's shoulder.

Sutha scrambled to take shelter beside the armored landspeeder. Several of his men dove out of the path of the incoming megablaster fire to crouch alongside him.

Boba Fett made his way up the row of parked landspeeders along the sidewalk. He ducked for cover as Sutha's guards returned fire. Boba would pop up for a split second and down one exposed guard after another as he closed with his true target; Sutha the Hutt.

Sutha's men retrieved heavy blasters from the inside of their landspeeders. Despite Boba whittling down their numbers the sound of heavy blaster fire quickly filled the roadway like a powerful hail storm.

Boba crouched down and moved forward, careful to remain under cover as he moved. Glass from shattered landspeeder view screens rained down on him as Sutha's guards perforated each vehicle with hundreds of bolts.

"Come on! Kill him!" Sutha yelled.

Darts D'Nar stood up and blasted off an entire tibanna clip in Boba's direction.

Boba Fett rose up and blasted down two Rodian guards hiding behind the church's exterior columns.

"Cover me." Darts ordered Sutha's remaining men. He ran for the landspeeder behind Sutha's just as Boba emerged from behind the parked landspeeder he had been using for cover.

Boba Fett's weapon was empty but that didn't stop the Mandalorian. He instantly switched to a hold-out pistol and came right at Sutha's hiding spot. He downed a pair of Umbaran bodyguards as he did so.

Boba took cover behind the landspeeder in front of Sutha's. At the rear of the vehicle he took a moment to reload the FWMB-10. He could hear three thugs at the front of the vehicle gathering their courage to charge him.

The first guard came around the rear corner directly in front of Boba. He threw a shoulder into the human, shoving him back into the Chagrian behind him. Boba swung the megablaster upwards and opened fire, nearly cutting the Chagrian in half at point blank range. He grabbed the human by the arm, spun him around and blasted him in the face. In one motion he dropped the dead man and spun around to face the next bodyguard.

Boba was on the sidewalk side of the landspeeder and didn't see the heavily armored cargo landspeeder speeding at the vehicle from the roadway side. Darts D'Nar hit the parked vehicle with the bigger vehicle going at almost full speed. The impact batted Boba into the air. If not for his armor his rib cage would have been shattered as he was roughly hurled into the side of the church.

Boba Fett battled to gather his senses. As his eyes opened again he saw the FWMB-10 repeating blaster where it had fallen several meters down the sidewalk. Feet were approaching and well as the slimy belly of a large Hutt. Boba sensed there were several beings standing over him. He looked up to see Sutha staring down at him before he blacked out.

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Inside the Church of the First Frequency

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Boba Fett woke up as rays from Coruscant Prime shined down into his eyes from several stain glass view screens above him. The beams of sunlight were the only illumination in the place. His helmet and gauntlets had been removed but he still wore the rest of his armor. Not that it did him much good as he was tightly bound to a chair placed in the center of the building's altar.

Blood dripped from a cut in his forehead as he took in his surroundings. From their breathing he counted two guards standing behind him and from the smell of Zygerrian cologne Boba deduced that one of them was Darts D'Nar.

From the darkness the deep, menacing laughter of Sutha ended the calm. "I'll say this, Boba, The Kaminoans sure as fierfek broke the mold with you."

Rako Hardeen came out of the pews to Boba's left. The henchman was dragging a large mattress and placed it down in front of Boba Fett. Sutha crawled forward and came to a rest atop, what for a Hutt, was a cushioned seat.

Sutha continued, "You always had a certain . . . audacity about you, you know." The Hutt smiled, "Yeah. I can say you're still very much the Boba Fett of old."

"Am I?" Boba responded, still calculating a dozen ways out of this trap. Keep the fat slug talking, he thought. Buy some time.

Sutha leaned forward. "Beings don't change. You know that. Times, they do."

Boba didn't say anything. He could tell Sutha was in an explanatory mood. The Hutt sighed, "Do you know what was in that vault? Artwork, credits, not without their worth, but the leverage I had on this planet; hologram recordings, physical evidence, blackmail on half the Senate and even a few of Palpatine's top advisors. It was kriffing priceless!" Spittle flew from Sutha mouth as he shook a finger in Boba's face. "Priceless!"

"Yeah. I kind of enjoyed that." Boba admitted with a smirk.

Sutha chuckled. "Yeah, I know you did, yeah. Are you really laughing?"

Sutha slapped Boba across the face with enough force that his chair started to tip over. Darts steadied it from behind in case his boss wanted to slap the arrogant bounty hunter again.

Boba spit out some blood as Sutha rubbed his hand. The crime boss was unaccustomed to getting his hands dirty after decades of being in charge. He relaxed on his mattress, "So, then you got married, huh? Settled down. How did you manage that anyways?"

"Luck, I guess." Boba said.

"Yeah . . ." Sutha got a distant look in his eyes, "while you got your wife, I got my son to join me from Nar Shaddaa. And believe me, you had the far better deal." Sutha chuckled along with his guards. "And then you left. And the way you got out, lying to yourself that the past held no sway over the future. But in the end . . . a lot of us are rewarded for our misdeeds . . . which is why your wife joined with the Force . . . and unleashed you upon me. This life . . . follows you. It clings to you, infecting everyone who comes close to you. We are cursed, you and I."

"On that, we agree." Boba admitted.

Sutha pulled back in astonishment. "Finally, common ground. Alright."

"Step aside." Boba Fett demanded. "Give me your son."

"Boba Fett. The boogeymen." Sutha rose up to his full height. "It was just a kriffing air speeder. It was just a kriffing akk dog!" He turned to leave Boba to his fate.

Boba stopped him. "Sutha."

"Yeah?"

"When Sinta died, I lost everything. Until that akk pup arrived on my doorstep, a final gift from my wife. In that moment I received some semblance of hope . . . an opportunity to grieve unalone." Boba's voice turned to a growl full of hatred, "And you're son took that from me."

"By Boonta . . ." Sutha started

"Stole that from me. Killed that from me!" Boba screamed at crime boss. "People keep asking if I'm back and I really haven't had an answer. But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back."

Sutha started to slide back away from the crazed bounty hunter out of fear.

"So you can either hand over your son." Boba jumped to his feet with the chair still tied behind him. "Or you can die screaming alongside him!

Sutha turned and left, along with Rako. He had nothing more to say to his son's would-be killer. Darts D'Nar and the other human guard grabbed Boba by the shoulders and sat him back down. As Sutha left the church, Darts threw a plastoid bag over Boba's head from behind in an attempt to suffocate him.

The human guard held Boba Fett down as he struggled to break free before his air ran out. Darts had all the leverage. Though he would fight until the end Boba wasn't sure if he could find a way out of this one.

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Boba's previous hiding spot across from the Church of First Frequency

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Cad Bane lined up his shot in the sniper rifle's reticule and gently pushed the blasting stub.

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Inside the Church of the First Frequency

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There was the tiny shattering of glass from one of the stain glass view screens above them just a millisecond before the human guard's head exploded.

The sudden shock of the sniper bolt caused Darts D'Nar to lose his grip on the plastoid bag as the dead henchman fell away. The corpse's dead weight carried Boba with it and away from Darts for just a second. The chair broke into several pieces when Boba crashed into the floor.

Darts pulled out his blaster pistol and jumped to his feet. He pointed the weapon at the view screens above in an effort to discern the direction the sniper bolt had come from.

With the bag still over his head and his hands tied behind him, Boba Fett leapt up and charged the Zygerrian. He caught him in the chest with his shoulder, driving him backwards, until Darts tripped over the pew in the front row.

Boba fell next to him on his own back. He flexed his legs and sprang into the air, moving his hands down his legs, past his feet and to his front again. While still bound, he ripped the bag off his face and lunged at the recovering Darts.

Boba's renewed attack sent Darts's weapon skittering across the church's floor. Both men ignored it as they faced off and grappled. Each of them fighting for the superior position while holding the other in a front head lock.

Boba pulled back and then thrust up with his knee, catching Darts just below his chin. The Zygerrian spit out several teeth. The Mandalorian didn't let the thug breath before flipping him over and slamming him into the ground. Darts held onto Boba's chest plate and dragged him down with him.

Boba rolled to Darts's side and had him in an arm bar. As he attempted to tear Darts's shoulder from his socket the henchman screamed in agony. Darts gathered whatever strength he had left and struggled to his feet. Boba right beside him. They both placed straight arms in each other's face while Darts was able to land several body blows with his free hand.

Darts swept Boba's legs out from under him, flipping him upside down before impacting with the floor. Darts was on top of him and punched Boba squarely in the face twice.

Boba flipped Darts to the side and kicked him in the side of the face before they both scrambled to standing positions once again. This time, however, Darts had grabbed the bag again and was slightly quicker to his feet. He once again forced it across Boba's face cutting off his air as he pressed the bounty hunter into a nearby wall for leverage.

Boba struggled free but in the effort he turned his back on the Zygerrian who moved the bag around Boba's neck to strangle him. Boba turned and jabbed his bound fists into Darts's face. As his air grew short, he used the wall as a spring board and jumped up to knee Darts once again in the side of the head.

Now they had some breathing space as they squared off across a space of only a meter. Darts threw the first punch which Boba instantly returned. Darts charged and carried Boba onto his back on the floor. With single minded obsession he tried to choke Boba while he was on top of him. Boba turned his head, got a hold of Darts's thumb with his mouth and bit down hard. He would have bitten it clean off if Darts didn't scream and loosen his grip on Boba's throat.

Boba flipped him off of Darts and recovered his footing once more. This time he was behind Darts and he wrapped his ties around the Zygerrian's neck. He dropped his weight backwards and got his legs around the bodyguard, strangling him. Darts struggled to free himself to no avail.

Boba watched as the life slipped away from Darts. And even though he knew the moment Darts was dead he still snapped the Zygerrian's neck to ensure the kill.

Boba Fett kicked the body away from him and got up again. He rushed across the room to the corpse of the human guard. He had seen a vibroblade on the man's belt when he had been talking with Sutha. He pulled the blade free and cut his bindings from his hands.

His helmet and weapons were still on the altar where Darts had left them.

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Front entrance, Church of First Frequency

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Boba Fett burst out of the church with his trusted EE-3 in his hand.

He turned to his left and spotted Sutha's landspeeder racing away. It turned left and disappeared around the corner.

Boba wasn't deterred. He ignited his jet pack and rocketed upwards. His trajectory carried him up and over the church to the roadway on the other side of the block. He landed solidly in the center of the roadway just as Sutha's landspeeder emerged from the side street and turned straight at him.

Sutha's driver barely had time to react before the armored figure ahead of him put several blaster bolts into the vehicle's engine compartment. The impact and the sudden appearance caused him to veer right, where he slammed the landspeeder into a row of parked air speeders next to Boba Fett.

Boba jumped onto the hood of the landspeeder and put four bolts into the driver through the wind view screen. It was just him and Sutha now. The Hutt raised his hands up and looked at him through the vehicle's glass ceiling.

"Cool it. Cool it. Cool it. Cool it." Sutha pleaded. Sutha opened the door and slowly exited the vehicle. Boba Fett kept his weapon trained on him the entire time. "Boba."

Boba Fett blasted his EE-3 into the air to emphasize who was in control now.

"Ahh!" Sutha shouted in fright. "By the core!"

"Where is he?" Boba demanded as he cocked the weapon.

"Poodoo!" Sutha said in frustration. He looked at Boba for a moment trying to decide what to do next. "I have your word then, if I tell you where he is, then you'll let me walk away?"

"Pull the contract."

Sutha nodded. "Done."

Boba jumped off the hood and landed on the pavement in front of Sutha. The EE-3 was pointed right at Sutha's right eye. Boba wasn't going to repeat his question.

"He's kept in a safe house. Near the old Jedi Temple. 434 Order and Loyalty Place." Sutha admitted. "They'll know you're coming."

"Of course." He lowered the blaster and turned away. "But it won't matter."


	4. Chapter 4

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Safe House, 434 Order and Loyalty Place

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Voras smoked Mercan herbs from his hookah pipe in a futile effort to calm his nerves. He was being protected on the top floor of a three story warehouse with little in the way of creature comforts.

Two heavily armed guards, a human and a Lasat, peered out the view screen while a third guard, a Wookiee, sat next to Voras. The guard was playing a hologame of Shronker with the young Hutt, but Voras was paying very little attention to the game and losing badly.

I should be rocketing out of the sector, maybe back home to Nar Shaddaa or to my uncle Jabba's place on Tatooine, Voras thought. I know better than my father. Sutha is crazy to keep me on Coruscant with Boba Fett still on the loose.

The human guard spoke into a comlink to do a security check with the four guards in hidden posts outside the warehouse. "Position four. Check in."

"Check." A guard on a circular perimeter patrol replied.

"Position three. Check in."

"Check." A sniper responded from across the airway.

"All positions, stay ready." The human guard ordered. "Position two. Check in."

"Check." The team's second sniper reported. He didn't see the figure that emerged from the shadows and strangled position four's guard in the alley next to his sniper nest.

Voras tossed away his control stick and took a drag from his hookah before snapping at the Wookiee. "Will you stop playing that kriffing hologame?"

The Wookiee worked for Sutha so he didn't have to listen to Voras. So he kept playing the game even without Voras.

"Position one. Check in." The human guard chief said.

"Check." Boba Fett replied into a dead guard's comlink.

Voras was truly growing frustrated. He raised a fist to the Wookiee and repeated. "Will you stop playing the kriffing hologame!"

The Wookiee looked to Voras with an expression that told the Hutt where he would prefer to stuff the hologame. It was the last look he ever gave as a blaster bolt entered his temple and blew out the other side of his head. Voras was splattered with hot blood and fur.

Another blaster shot rang out from outside and position three's sniper fell lifelessly from his perch.

The human bodyguard at the view screen turned towards Voras and waved frantically. "Get down! Get down!"

Voras was just starting to move when a bolt tore out the human guard's throat.

The zip of a blaster discharge outside told Voras that Boba Fett had dealt with the last guard sniper at position two.

The Lasat was bounding across the room. He grabbed Voras by the stubby arm, "Come on! Come on! Stay low! Stay low!"

As the Lasat pulled Voras down the stairs leading to the air speeder hanger on the level below, Boba Fett left his position and calmly strolled towards the building. He pulled a detonator from his utility belt and activated it.

Voras was tossed forward from the force of planted explosives on the floor beneath him as fiery blasts destroyed every air speeder in the building's hanger. Voras and the Lasat got to the bottom of the stairs and stared wide-eyed at the burning wreckage before them. Their only means of escape was now gone.

Fired unseen from the east side of the warehouse, two bolts tore into the Lasat's chest, killing Voras's last protector.

Voras's survival instincts kicked into overdrive as he frantically ran away from his unseen assailant. He slid between the rows of burning air speeders. He didn't flee fast enough as a large bolt tore a chunk out of his tail. Voras fell to his side. Pain from his injury sent him into a near panic as he fought for breath.

Voras turned back towards the smoking vehicles to see the horror he had been running from. The green and gray armored bounty hunter walked intently through the wreckage straight towards the wounded Hutt. There was no hesitation in the way Boba Fett approached Voras.

Voras put up a hand in a futile defense as Boba came to a halt above him. Voras attempted to plead, "It was just a kriffing . . ."

Boba Fett blasted Voras right between his eyes, killing him instantly. He didn't want to hear any of the Hutt's excuses or pleas. What good would they serve anyhow?

It was over. Boba Fett turned and left.

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Sutha's Office, Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant

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The comlink rang.

Sutha had been dreading this call. He pushed the connection button. He listened to Rako Hardeen's report from the safe house.

"Make the arrangements."

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The Galactic Hotel Lobby, Level 1313

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IG-88 peered up from his work to see Boba Fett approaching. The bounty hunter was carrying his luggage and appeared ready to check out of his stay.

Boba placed a room key on the desk and slid it towards the droid. "Thank you."

"Our pleasure, sir." IG-88 replied. The assassin droid placed a set of air speeder keys on the desk and slid them towards Boba Fett.

Boba hadn't used their valet service when he arrived and wondered what the keys were about.

"A parting gift. From the management." IG-88 explained. "Compensation for last night's unfortunate . . . incident."

Boba picked up the ignition keys and looked at them. He nodded to the droid in gratitude and turned and left the lobby.

Outside the Galactic, Boba Fett was faced with a shiny, new, black T-47 air speeder. One of the quickest civilian air speeders on the market. His father would have been envious. Jango Fett had always admired fast air speeders.

He handed his luggage to the available bell hop who placed Boba's bags in the vehicles cargo space. Boba tipped him one aurodium coin before climbing behind the T-47's controls. The engine purred when he started it. He smiled in admiration.

When he pulled away from the Galactic he headed towards the tunnels that would take him back towards the surface of the Galaxy's capital.

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Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant

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Boba Fett sat on the steps of the Galaxies Opera House, watching Coruscant Prime set over the city and silently contemplating his future in the Underworld.

Sutha wouldn't be happy with him for quite some time, if ever, but other syndicates and Hutt families would love to hire him again. Boba figured even Sutha's brother Jabba would be willing to throw him some work despite Boba killing his nephew. Hutts could hold a grudge, but they'd be the first to stab their own families in the back.

Of course, what would Sinta think? They had been happy living peacefully for two or three years, but these past few days chasing down Voras had felt like . . . home.

She was Mandalorian like him. She would understand, right? He needed more time to think about it.

Boba Fett didn't hear the footsteps approaching but he knew he wasn't alone anymore.

"How many times do I have to save your shebs?" Cad Bane asked.

"I appreciate it." Boba said.

"Of course." Cad looked him in the face. "You look terrible."

"No, I look retired." Boba was only lying to himself. He could tell Cad wasn't fooled.

"Retired? You really believe that?"

Boba nodded.

"You made a new life. You'll find your way back to it." Cad Bane tipped the edge of the broad brim of his trademark hat. As he turned away from Boba he said, "It's time to go home."

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Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant

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Aurra Sing put down the macrobinoculars after watching the Duro walk away from Boba Fett.

Cad Bane was unmistakably a legend in the Underworld. Not as good as she was, of course, but one to be leery of crossing paths with. The old Duro had grown old since the Clone Wars. Maybe he's lost a step or two she figured.

His presence also explained Boba Fett's escape from the Church of First Frequency and how the bounty hunter had been alerted to her assassination attempt.

She picked up her comlink and dialed the number to Rako Hardeen.

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Level 1313

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Coruscant still smelled of pesky Jedi, even after these years, Cad Bane thought as he walked down the street towards the Galactic. Maybe, that was why he was eager to get back to Duro.

He was going back to the hotel to gather his own bags, then heading for the hidden docking bay where he had left his starship. With any luck he'd be back home on Duro within the next rotation.

It was good seeing Boba Fett again. He had nothing but respect for the kid's old man, but thinking he was retired was a laugh. Boba Fett had bounty hunting in his blood. You'd have to throw him in a Sarlacc pit to get him to quit.

Cad Bane hadn't lost a step either. He knew the exact second he picked up a tail. He didn't react to let them know he was on to them. Not that it would have mattered as several more armed henchmen appeared on the sidewalk ahead of him.

The Duro bounty hunter stopped in his tracks. He would allow them to make the first move and respond accordingly.

He was stopped in front of a row of apartment buildings. The door to the one next to him opened up to reveal Rako Hardeen. Hardeen motioned for him to follow him inside.

Cad Bane did just that. Not that he had much of a choice. Once inside, Rako's goons frisked him and relieved him of almost a dozen hidden weapons. Cad removed his coat and folded it over a nearby chair. There was a glass dish on a table before him and Cad was made to empty his pockets of his credits, comlink and even his chromo.

Cad turned around to face the two bodyguards behind him. "Let's get on with this, whatever the fark this is."

"Hello, Cad." Sutha said from the other room. Cad Bane spun his head around to face the Hutt.

After Rako and the two guards placed Cad Bane in a chair, they held him there while Sutha beat him. The beating lasted for ten minutes without a single word being spoken. Finally, Sutha stopped. He slid to a desk where Rako had placed a bowl of ice. He placed his hands in it to soothe his bruised knuckles.

Cad Bane was a mess. Sutha had destroyed his face and blood was covering his clothes. His large hat was crushed on the floor where the Hutt had slid over it after it had fallen from the Duro's head. Through broken teeth, Cad Bane said, "You pulled the contract."

"And while it was open you had every chance . . . every opportunity to kill Boba Fett!" Cad Bane started to pass out and fall over but one of the guards beside him pulled him upright again. "And if you had done your job, my son would still be alive!"

Sutha punched Cad so hard a stream of blood from Cad's mouth flew across the room and splattered the far wall.

As Cad Bane recovered from the powerful blow, Aurra Sing walked into the room with a beverage in her hand. She smiled at Cad Bane and handed the drink to Sutha.

"Thank you." Sutha said to her and swallowed the drink in a single gulp.

Cad Bane shrugged. "Aurra Sing. Why am I not surprised?"

"In for a coin, in for a credit." Aurra Sing gloated.

Cad spit out a bloody tooth in response. Sutha approached him again. This time Rako handed him a vibroblade which the Hutt pointed menacingly towards Cad.

"I always liked you, Cad." Sutha said. "The last of the old guard from the days of the Old Republic."

Sutha thrust the blade deep into Cad's thigh. The Duro couldn't help himself and shouted in pain. Sutha growled, "But unlike the others, you'll go out on my terms."

Sutha turned away to retrieve a blaster from Rako.

"No, no." Cad Bane struggled with the two men holding his arms and broke free. He looked up at Sutha's back. "No, my good, sir. I go out on my own."

Cad threw an elbow into the guard on his right then stood up and grabbed the guard to his left. He pulled the blaster pistol tucked into the guard's belt free and fired several bolts into the thug's chest. He turned back to his right and shot the other guard in the forehead from less than a meter distance.

Sutha tried to dive behind one of his men for cover but they were all too skinny to save him.

In the end it didn't matter. As Cad Bane turned away from the two dead guards, Aurra Sing had already dropped into a firing position and then blasted him twice, once in the sternum and the other in the left lung. Cad Bane was thrown backwards from the impact.

Sutha took Rako's blaster and slid over to the prone bounty hunter. He pointed the weapon down at Cad Bane's chest.

"See." Cad Bane smiled.

Sutha fired half the weapon's ammo into the Duro's chest. He looked down at the bloody mess below him and blasted him twice more in the head. So ended the legend of Cad Bane.

"Well played, old friend."

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Inside Boba Fett's T-47, Airway 405

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Boba Fett's comlink chimed. He kept his eyes on the airway as he reached into his pocket to retrieve it. Without looking at the caller code he answered it. "This is Boba."

"I appreciate you granting my son a swift death." Sutha told him. Boba Fett said nothing in response. Why was Sutha calling him? They were square. "I wouldn't know how to respond to that either."

Sutha waited several seconds before continuing. "Cad Bane betrayed me. And in so doing, he broke the cardinal rule. So, Boba, I had no choice."

Sutha ended the call. Boba looked down at his comlink. The caller code wasn't Sutha's. Instead, it came from an address back down on Level 1313, from somewhere near the Galactic Hotel.

Boba Fett turned the air speeder around and headed down into the lower levels.

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Apartment near the Galactic Hotel

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"We done, Sutha?" Rako Hardeen asked nervously, as Sutha handed him back his blaster.

Rako knew Boba Fett was still out there somewhere and wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. Thankfully, so did his boss, and the plan was for them to hide out in the Outer Rim until things cooled down here on Coruscant.

"We're done." Sutha said, calmly. The Hutt acted very chill for someone whose son had just been murdered, Rako thought. He wondered if Sutha's mind hadn't snapped a bit.

Rako activated his comlink and called Sutha's personal pilot. "Yeah. Fuel the starship. Plot for a jump to Tatooine."

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Apartment near Galactic Hotel, five minutes later

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Boba Fett landed the T-47 in the middle of the roadway. This part of the city was dead this time of night. He jumped out, weapon drawn, and ran into the building.

Aurra Sing watched Boba Fett go into the building from a parked landspeeder across the roadway. She was about to retrieve her own sniper rifle to deal with him when he emerged again but her comlink chimed. She answered it.

It was the voice of the Galactic Hotel's front desk droid. "Ms. Sing, I apologize for calling you at this hour."

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Boba moved slowly through the silent apartment. His weapon drawn and held at the ready.

In the dining room he found the body of Cad Bane. The Duro had been blasted many times at extreme close range. Boba had seen a lot of dead bodies in his line of work, there had been a lot of anger with this kill.

Cad Bane had been a friend of Boba's father and a personal mentor in the Bounty Hunter's Guild. And though their paths had crossed many times over the years, and not always on the same side of a contract, Boba and Cad had always respected each other. More than associates they had grown into colleagues and then as the strongest of friends.

Sutha would pay for this.

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Five blocks away, Valorum Fountain Park

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Aurra Sing walked down the steps towards the columns arranged around the park's central fountain.

She knew she had screwed up with the Bounty Hunter's Guild by committing business on Galactic grounds, so when they called to meet with her immediately, she decided Boba Fett could wait. She needed to smooth things over with the organization first.

She stopped in the center of the columns and waited. Four gunmen stepped from the darkness and surrounded her. She knew them all from the Galactic. She didn't wait long before Hondo Ohnaka emerged. He walked right up to her.

"Aurra." Hondo said in that old pirate accent of his. "Your membership to the Galactic has been, by thine own hand, revoked."

He turned away and walked towards the stairs. Behind him the four gunmen pulled their blasters and blasted her. She didn't have time to react to the suddenness of the attack. Four bolts tore through her heart and she fell dead in front of the fountain.

As Hondo reached the stairs he was met by Morelo Eval and two large Gamorreans. He handed Morelo an aurodium coin and continued on his way up the stairs.

At the top, when he was alone, Hondo pulled out his personal comlink and dialed a long memorized number. When it was answered, he said. "I know what you are thinking, Boba. We live by a code. Which is why I'm not the one telling you that a certain starship at a certain docking bay is being fueled for a certain Hutt."

Boba Fett disconnected the line. It was out of Hondo's hands now.

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Airway 15, on route to Docking Bay 96

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The rain was really pouring down now. Luckily this time of night, traffic was light.

Rako Hardeen, his boss Sutha, along with three Weequay guards, were in the lead air speeder on the way to his personal starship. Sutha would have to kiss Jabba's slimy tail, but his brother would protect him on Tatooine for a while. Another air speeder followed them. This one was filled with the last of Sutha's guards left alive here on Coruscant. Sutha would have a lot of rebuilding to do when they returned, Rako thought. I'll need a large raise after this whole Boba Fett poodoo.

"Have you got my hookah pipe?" Sutha asked for the third time.

"Yeah, I've got your hookah." Rako replied. He needed a vacation. Sutha was starting to annoy him.

There was suddenly the flash of drive lights coming from the rain behind the chase vehicle. A third air speeder was approaching quickly. Everyone in the lead vehicle turned to see who it was except Sutha, who couldn't be bothered.

"Who is that behind us?" The Weequay pilot asked.

"Echuta!" Sutha exclaimed. It could only be Boba Fett; the boogeyman.

"Yeah, wizard." Rako said. He told the pilot. "Let's go faster, c'mon. The starship is just down there. Let's go. Let's go!"

Behind them, Boba Fett's air speeder pulled alongside the chase vehicle. The bounty hunter slammed his ship into the security vehicle causing it to veer slightly off course. It couldn't have happened at a worse moment as they were approaching a large office building. The guard vehicle slammed into the cloud cutter at full speed. The resulting explosion lit up the night sky before vanishing in the rain.

Now Boba Fett's drive lamps filled their rear view screen.

"Poodoo." Rako looked back at their pursuer. "I knew he'd come."

Sutha just chuckled like he was a Force-stang, Kowokian monkey-lizard. The Hutt had lost his mind, Rako figured.

Boba Fett raced up along the pilot's side of the air speeder and matched their speed. The Mandalorian side swiped their vehicle, shattering view screens and causing everyone inside to brace themselves from the impact. The Mandalorian veered away and then slammed into them again.

"What is kriffing wrong with this guy?" Rako cried out. He turned to the Weequays. "Someone give me a blaster. Who's got a blaster?"

Sutha was still laughing.

Boba Fett pulled slightly ahead of them and then side swiped them again. This time impacting with the engine compartment at the front of their air speeder. Rako slammed his head against the interior wall of the vehicle. "Oh, stars! My kriffing head!"

"That was a good one." Sutha chuckled.

"Who's got a blaster?" Rako pleaded with the guards.

Boba Fett dropped back several meters and sheared off their rear stabilizer. The pilot hopelessly fought for control as their vehicle skittered to the right. They impacted a hover billboard along the side of the airway and lost the port side repulse lift. They were going down towards a large landing right next to their docking bay.

Boba Fett sped past the crippled air speeder on its death plunge.

Sutha's vehicle bounced several times before sliding to a stop. Rako couldn't believe they were all still alive.

"Go, kill him." Sutha yelled in Huttese. The three Weequays burst out of the vehicle, their weapons drawn on the approaching T-47. Sutha and Rako were left all alone in the crashed air speeder.

"Fierfek." Rako shouted in fear and frustration.

The first guard went out to the edge of the landing. He blasted away with his blaster rifle at Boba Fett's air speeder to no avail. The ship dipped down and hit the Weequay in the legs, causing him to roll over the top of Boba Fett's canopy. Boba had a blaster pistol drawn and blasted several rounds through his roof to kill the guard as he rolled past.

His forward view screen shattered, Boba Fett hit the firing mechanism to eject his canopy.

The second Weequay opened up with his blaster as Boba Fett flew past. The T-47 fish-tailed across the landing batting the Weequay with its wing. The guard fell to the ground and dropped his blaster. Boba Fett never gave him a chance to recover, instead aiming from the T-47's pilot seat he shot the downed guard in the head twice.

Rako yelled to his boss. "Sutha, the starship is right over there. We have to get over there."

Sutha did nothing more than calmly light a cigarra and watch the blaster fight going on outside the vehicle.

Boba Fett's T-47 was now facing away from Sutha's crashed air speeder. The last Weequay, the pilot, blasted away at the rear thrusters of Boba's vehicle. Boba shifted the air speeder into reverse and floored it. The rear of the T-47 plowed into the Weequay and the crashed air speeder, crushing him between the two vehicles.

Boba was going to turn on Sutha and Rako when automatic fire riddled his T-47 from the direction of the docking bay. A human, probably Sutha's starship captain, blasted at the T-47 from behind a pillar near the docking bay entrance. Boba Fett charged ahead to deal with the nuisance.

He hit the control stick hard to the left when he reached the pillar causing the air speeder to bank sharply around the structure. The T-47 was nearly standing on its left wing as it circled the pillar. The maneuver exposed the pilot to Boba Fett's aim. The T-47's engines screamed as Boba snapped off several bolts that clipped the starship pilot in the arm and chest. One final shot to the face put him down for good. He sped back towards the crashed air speeder and Sutha.

Rako desperately checked under his seat and amongst the various compartments inside the air speeder for a weapon. "I need a blaster."

Sutha quietly removed a holdout blaster from the compartment next to his seat and held it out, butt first, towards his majordomo. He muttered something in Huttese.

Rako took the offered weapon, "Basic please."

"Good luck." Sutha said.

"Hutt cheebiesucker." Rako called his boss. He kicked open his door, but it fell off its hinge causing Rako to fall forward and land on the pavement. He got up and scrambled away from the air speeder to put some distance between him and Boba Fett. "Fierfek!"

Boba Fett circled over the downed craft in an attempt to discern Sutha's condition. The Hutt was moving so he was alive as far as Boba could tell, but he wasn't bothering to exit the crash or seek shelter. What was his game, Boba wondered.

Boba had just decided to set down beside Sutha's air speeder when several bolts ricocheted off the edge of his cockpit. Boba ducked down from the surprise attack. When he popped back up he spotted Rako Hardeen running across the landing blasting wildly back at the T-47.

Boba carefully aimed his EE-3 and blasted the running Rako in the left calf. Sutha's majordomo fell forward dropping his weapon.

Boba Fett pushed his controls forward and stepped on the thrust footpad. Rako couldn't get out of the way as the air speeder roared down at him. The T-47 hit the man and flung him onto the air speeder's front shield. Rako was face to face with Boba Fett when the Mandalorian hit the air brakes bringing the T-47 to a sudden stop. Rako's forward momentum threw him to the ground to the right of Boba's grounded air speeder.

Boba was about to finish the man off when the T-47 was suddenly struck from the left side. Sutha had somehow activated the booster in his downed air speeder which was propelling it across the landing like a battering ram. Both air speeders rolled over Rako Hardeen, crushing him to death.

Boba looked at Sutha glaring at him from the pilot seat of the air speeder to his left and then right towards the edge of the landing. The drop over the side was over a hundred stories up. Malfunction lights and alarms rang out inside the T-47 as the wings crumpled off and the engine gave out. It would never fly again, Boba realized.

Boba Fett grabbed his EE-3 and blasted wildly at the Hutt mere meters away. The bucking and swerving of the T-47 as it crossed the landing caused his blots to go wide.

Boba Fett released his safety belt and scrambled out of his seat. The edge was rapidly approaching. Just as the T-47 smashed through the edge's safety rail he leapt free and landed next to Sutha's air speeder as it became entangled in the mangled railing. The T-47 fell away to the ground below. The distant explosion was swallowed by the rainstorm.

The downpour soaked Boba Fett as he gained his feet. His ribs still hurt from where Darts had stabbed him and the impact with the landing had aggravated the wound. He pulled his EE-3 out and ran around to the pilot position on the air speeder. He opened the door and pointed the blaster inside, but the vehicle was empty.

Then, through the rain, he saw him. Sutha was standing several meters away from Boba Fett. He glared at the Mandalorian. His whole bearing dared Boba Fett to attack him.

Lightning crackled across the Coruscant sky illuminating the landing.

Boba Fett lowered the EE-3 and approached the Hutt. It didn't matter that Sutha had half a ton of weight on him. Boba was going to beat the Hutt to death with his bare hands if he had to.

"No more blasters, Boba." Sutha said.

"No more bolts." Boba tossed the empty weapon to the ground.

The two opponents circled each other. Each looking for the slightest of advantages. Sutha moved easily along the soaked pavement, while Boba had to remove his helmet as rain covered the T-visor. Water quickly slicked his hair back as he let the helmet fall to the side.

They stopped moving and squared off. Sutha rose himself to his full three meter height and glared down at the clone. "Just you and me, Boba."

Boba nodded. "You and me."

Sutha shouted and feinted forward. Boba stepped back. Sutha threw a series of four left thrusts that drove Boba further backwards. He easily avoided each of the blows.

Sutha switched his tactic and threw a haymaker with his right followed by a swing from his left, then back and forth from right to left. Boba kept his defense up and blocked each of the onslaught of punches with his forearms. Sutha winced in pain from hitting Boba's armored gauntlets.

Boba Fett counter attacked by jabbing an elbow into the Hutt's enormous gut and then punching Sutha in the throat. The Hutt recoiled from the strikes. Boba couldn't tell if he was actually hurting Sutha or if the Hutt's massive fat was absorbing the blows.

Sutha pushed him backwards. Boba responded by punching Sutha directly in the nose, causing his eyes to water and temporarily blind the crime lord. He grabbed Sutha by the neck and shoved him against the wall. He didn't have the strength to choke a Hutt all by himself so he ignited his jetpack to give him the extra push.

Sutha stared down at him. "What happened, Boba? We were professionals. Civilized."

"Do I look civilized to you?" Boba Fett growled at the Hutt. He then punched Sutha as hard as he could, smashing his large left eye.

Sutha charged forward and forced space between the two of them. He put up one hand for a pause in their fight. It took a massive amount of energy to move a Hutt in anything resembling fast. Sutha struggled to catch his breath.

Boba Fett had his hands up at the ready position, watching to see what Sutha would do next. Sutha reached into one of the fat folds on his right side and withdrew a hidden switch-vibroblade. Boba glared at the Hutt, but that was life in the Underworld. You either fought dirty or you sunk into the muck.

Sutha swung at Boba who hopped backwards just out of the Hutt's range. Sutha swung again. This time Boba managed to grab a hold of the Hutt's wrist locking the weapon in a position it couldn't get to him. Sutha used his free hand to punch Boba in the face. It felt as if Ronto had stepped on his head.

Boba Fett realized his opponent had no idea how far he was willing to go. Instead of pushing the vibroblade away from him, Boba Fett suddenly pulled the weapon closer. Sutha's weight did the rest and drove the blade into Boba's previous stab wound. Sutha slid back in shock that Boba would do such a thing.

The bounty hunter grabbed the Hutt's blade arm and lifted straight up, breaking it at the elbow. Sutha released his grip on the vibroblade. Boba grunted in pain as he pulled the weapon free. He could feel the warm blood run down his leg.

He blocked a wide swing from Sutha's good arm and then drove the vibroblade deep into Sutha's neck. The sudden geyser of green blood proved that Boba had hit a large artery.

Sutha spun Boba around and punched him once more in the face. The force of the impact caused Boba to fall backwards. The loss of blood caused Sutha to fall a few meters from him. The two opponents could hardly move anymore let alone continue the fight.

Their green and red blood mixed with the rain to form a puddle between them. Lightning strikes increased in the sky above.

Boba tried to apply pressure to his wound to stem the flow of blood. Sutha wasn't bothering.

"Be seeing you, Boba." Sutha told him. The strength slowly ebbing from his voice.

"Yeah, be seeing you." Boba Fett replied. He got up and walked past Sutha. As he passed the Hutt he heard Sutha's raspy breath stop.

Boba Fett walked away into the storm.

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Veterinary Medical Quarantine and Disposal Unit, next to Docking Bay 96

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Boba Fett broke the glass of the clinic's front door with his elbow. He reached inside and grabbed the interior door handle to let himself inside.

He had been lucky to spot this place in the rain. He'd be even luckier if his blood loss let him walk out of it again.

He stumbled past cages filled with dozens of exotic looking animals in cages. The beasts screeched and howled at him as he left a trail of blood back to the facility's medical room.

He tore open several cabinets and drawers in a search for something that could help him. He got lucky again finding several vials of animal-grade Bacta. If it worked on their infections it would work on his, he figured and drank two of them quickly. He saw a glue-stat in the cabinet and grabbed it.

He gingerly took off his chest plate and raised his shirt. Dried blood was already causing it to stick to his skin. Once the stab wound was exposed he sprayed the glue-stat foam on his wound. Once exposed to carbon it dissolved, sealing the wound.

Boba took several minutes to clean and disinfect the wound. Several times he thought he was starting to black out, only to catch himself and rest for a few seconds.

Something in one of the cages caught his eye. He went around the exam table in the center of the room and stumbled towards what he had seen.

A small akk pup whimpered up at him. Boba looked at the label on the cage. Scheduled for disposal tomorrow.

Boba saw a leash hanging on the wall and grabbed it. He opened the cage and pulled the akk dog out. He put the leash of the animal's collar, rubbing its head to soothe it.

"It's alright. Let's go home."


End file.
